Officials Probe Crash That Killed Girl, 12
Authorities are investigating a car accident that killed a 12-year-old girl and left her younger brother seriously injured over the weekend.
The car in which they were riding flipped over Sunday night after a tire apparently blew out on a transition road from the northbound Orange Freeway to the eastbound Pomona Freeway, officials said.
Helen Yolanda Valdez of Ontario was thrown from the back seat and died at the scene shortly after 7:30 p.m., police said.
Her brother, Julian, 9, was also thrown from the vehicle, police said. He was airlifted to Childrens Hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition with fractures to his pelvis, left leg and collarbone, a hospital spokesman said Monday.
The children’s 32-year-old mother, Yolanda Valdez, their 11-year-old brother and the driver, Kristana Olivas, 29, suffered minor injuries.
Olivas, who is the mother’s cousin, told investigators she was going about 65 mph when the tire blew out and she lost control of the car.
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