A Community Mourns Family Killed in Crash

Friends and relatives of the seven victims killed in a traffic accident near Moorpark were swamped by grief Tuesday as investigators tried to reconstruct the chain of events that led to the tragedy on California 118.

At the intersection of the 118 and Hitch Boulevard, a makeshift shrine appeared, with motorists stopping to leave candles, flowers, balloons and teddy bears.

Francisco and Ana Covarrubias were killed Monday, along with their three children, a niece and a nephew. Some motorists left notes at the shrine addressed to the family.

A placard propped against a stop sign read: “Rest in peace, sweet babies.”

The previous afternoon, the intersection was littered with shattered glass and chunks of metal, two baby strollers thrown free of a flattened minivan, and cans and fruit that had burst from grocery bags.

While the California Highway Patrol is still studying the twisted hulks of three vehicles, as well as photographs and measurements taken at the scene, officers said they have arrived at a basic idea of how the accident occurred.

It began when a sedan heading westbound on the 118 and driven by Ashley Ponce, 23, of Oxnard, apparently rear-ended a minivan that was attempting to make a left turn from the busy, two-lane 118 onto Hitch Boulevard, according to CHP Officer Robert Arauza. That force of the crash apparently propelled the minivan, which carried Francisco and Ana Covarrubias and the five children, into the oncoming traffic, where it was broadside by a van.

All seven people in the minivan died at the scene. Ponce was treated for moderate injuries and released from a Camarillo hospital.

The driver of the van, Eli Neiderhiser, 31, of Ojai, remained in intensive care at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center with a broken neck, according to authorities.

It was too early to tell whether criminal charges will be filed, Arauza said. None of the people involved in the accident had violations on their driving records, he said, adding that alcohol and drugs appeared to play no part in the collision.

On Hitch Boulevard, next-door neighbor Ray Hebel, 90, said the sudden death of an entire family seemed beyond belief. He recalled Francisco and Ana Covarrubias helping him trim trees in his yard and caring for his ailing wife, who died last year of congestive heart failure.

“They were a good family,” Hebel said. “They were very friendly people.”

Hebel said the couple doted on their children, recently installing a “Children at Play” sign in front of their home to help safeguard the youngsters. Hebel said that any time his grandson would visit, he would play for hours with Marcos Covarrubias, who would have turned 11 Friday.

“My little grandchild just cried his eyes out when he heard his buddy died,” Hebel said.

Shock waves from the accident washed over those who knew the two injured drivers as well.

On a quiet, well-kept street in Ojai, friends arrived at the Neiderhiser home with hot dishes and sympathy.

“They’re such an active couple,” neighbor Jennifer Garnsey said of Neiderhiser and his wife, Jessica. “They’re the perfect family.”

Neiderhiser, who grew up in Ojai, installs electric doors for hospitals and other facilities. His wife had a baby girl two months ago.

In Fillmore, Ashley Ponce, badly bruised from the crash, was resting at her parents’ house Tuesday afternoon.

“She’s devastated,” said her stepmother, Debi Ponce. “She’s traumatized -- our whole family is. And our hearts go out to the other families. Please let them know that.”

Debi Ponce said that Ashley, a young mother, drives a water truck for a construction company in Simi Valley and was on her way home at the time of the accident.

“She doesn’t really remember what happened,” Debi Ponce said. “She hasn’t told us anything.”

At the roadside memorial to the Covarrubias family, amid the farm fields west of Moorpark, the grief was palpable.

About noon, Francisco Covarrubias’ sister, Virginia Mendelson, of Simi Valley brought flowers and candles. She dropped to her knees, sobbing, before being led away by family friends.

Many people walked to the shrine from the rural Moorpark Home Acres neighborhood, where the Covarrubias family had lived for about five years, about 1 1/2 miles from the scene of the accident.

A woman, who only gave her first name as Ara, came bearing flowers and pushing her 18-month-old grandson in a stroller.

She had been drawn to the scene Monday, she said, by the helicopters circling overhead.

“We thought it was our family at first,” said the woman, pausing to wipe away tears before correcting herself.

“It is our family,” she said, “because they lived here.”

Relatives said that Ana and Francisco Covarrubias, 35, who was known as “Paco,” grew up 30 miles apart in villages south of Guadalajara. But they met and fell in love in Ventura County, at the Faith, Hope and Love Christian Church.

Ana Covarrubias, 31, stayed home, raising the children -- Marcos, 10; daughter Xochitl, 8; and 3-month-old Sofia. Francisco drove a tractor-trailer truck for NES Studio Equipment, a Van Nuys company that transports moviemaking gear.

“We’re still in shock,” said Gabriel Ramos, a dispatcher with NES. “If you can imagine a bunch of burly truck drivers -- archetypal tough guys -- breaking down in tears. Well, it’s just not something you see everyday.”

Francisco Covarrubias would rarely join co-workers for beers after work, Ramos said.

“He needed to get back to his family,” he said.

The family was extremely tight-knit, said Karla Covarrubias, Francisco’s sister.

On Monday, Francisco and Ana were caring for two toddlers belonging to Claudia Hernandez, another sister of Francisco’s, while she saw a dentist in Simi Valley. Two-year-old Paola and 1-year-old Omar also died in the crash.

Karla Covarrubias said that Mexico held a great attraction for her brother. In the ideal world, she said, he would have wanted his children to learn their heritage by spending more time there than the short family visits their schedule allowed. The family plans to bury all seven family members in Mexico, she said.

Many of those who visited the shrine Tuesday said they hoped the accident would prompt officials to better control the rural intersection, where close calls are common.

Moorpark resident David Nicola, 42, said area residents have long lobbied for a traffic light at the intersection.

“There needs to be a stoplight here,” Nicola said. “Seven people died in 30 seconds. It could happen to you, it could happen to me.”

*

Times staff writer Steve Chawkins contributed to this report.