Driver’s Suicide Is Under Investigation

The Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the case of a 37-year-old Bakersfield man who apparently committed suicide after a truck he was driving careened off a cliff, killing two passengers.

The third passenger, Chauki Villegas, 26, is in critical condition at Ventura County Medical Center.

“We have no new information to report,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Tim Lorenzen said.

Gary Sears was driving northbound on California 33 near the Santa Barbara County line on Saturday night when the truck left the road and plummeted off a cliff. Passengers Debra Lynch, 37, and Judy Villegas, 26, both of Bakersfield, died of head and chest injuries at the scene.

According to sheriff’s reports, Sears apparently committed suicide with a handgun after seeing the condition of his friends.

Officials are not investigating the crash as a possible homicide, Lorenzen said.

“There is no reason to believe it might be a homicide, because there were skid marks on the road and they didn’t believe he was depressed,” said Armando Chavez, a deputy coroner. “He and his girlfriend had just gotten back together.”

An 11-year-old girl injured in an unrelated traffic accident Sunday afternoon remained in critical condition at Ventura County Medical Center on Monday night.

Laylah Seeman-Bell of Santa Barbara sustained major head trauma when the car driven by her mother, Teri Bell, collided head-on with an Oxnard family’s vehicle on Valentine Road near Knoll Drive.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.