Probe of Crash That Killed 2 Continues

Authorities continued to investigate the cause of a Monday crash that killed two Oxnard children and left a third on life support after a sports utility vehicle driven by their mother slammed into a parked semitrailer.

Maria Guerrero and her children left Rosarito Beach in Baja about 3:30 a.m. and were driving through Malibu a few hours later on Pacific Coast Highway when the accident occurred. Guerrero told investigators they had left early in the morning because she had to be at work by 8 a.m.

“We’re also looking at the possibility that she fell asleep and drove into the back of the truck,” said Det. Hugh Wahlerof the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Virginia Alfaro, 13, and Alexis Alfaro, 11, were killed. Andrea Alfaro, 12, was on life support late Tuesday, and preparations were being made to donate her organs.

Their 34-year-old mother was in good condition Tuesday at UCLA Medical Center. A fourth child, Luis Alfaro, 9, escaped with moderate injuries. He was listed in good condition.

From her hospital bed Tuesday, Guerrero said the last thing she remembered was a red or brown car suddenly cutting in front of her.

“It was like he was playing with me,” said Guerrero, adding that she moved to the right lane to avoid the car.

A witness told investigators she did not see another car at the time, Wahler said. Investigators found no skid marks showing that Guerrero had braked to avoid a passing car or the tractor-trailer. The driver of the big rig was asleep in the cab and was not injured.

Also, the angle at which Guerrero’s car struck the tractor-trailer “suggested she’d been driving down the right lane and the shoulder for quite a while,” Wahler said.

At the hospital Tuesday, Jose Luis Alfaro, the children’s father and Maria Guerrero’s ex-husband, remembered how Virginia liked to study and shop, how Alexis liked playing soccer and how Andrea was a natural athlete.

With hospital expenses mounting, relatives said the cost of burying three children presents a heavy load for a family that, under the best circumstances, struggles to get by. Between them, Guerrero and Alfaro make $2,500 a month before taxes, according to court documents from their divorce. “I’d like to find an organization to bury the three children that I lost,” Alfaro said. “I’d like help.”

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Times staff writer Margaret Talev contributed to this story.