Other driver, 16, lost control during pass on snow, ice-covered road
From KTVZ.COM news sources
A 6-year-old Madras girl has become the second fatal victim of a two-car crash on snow- and ice-covered Highway 35 near Mount Hood that also injured seven others, officials said.
A spokeswoman for Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland confirmed Monday morning that Letticia Yasmin Torres had passed away Sunday night, the day after a Saturday crash that also claimed the life of her father, Emmanuel Torres, 23, of Madras.
The crash occurred around 10:30 a.m. when a 1992 GMC Yukon SUV driven by Justin Wayne O’Neal, 16, of Battle Ground, Wash., was southbound with two other teenagers about five miles north of Mt. Hood Meadows, OSP Sgt. Julie Wilcox said.
O’Neal was trying to pass another vehicle when he lost control and slid into the path of a northbound 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee with six occupants, Wilcox said.
The Jeep’s driver, Emmanuel Torres of Madras, tried to veer to the right to avoid the SUV, but was struck in the driver’s side and came to rest in a ditch along the highway, the sergeant said.
Torres, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene, Wilcox said.
His wife and right-front passenger, Marjean Louise Alonso, 23, was wearing a seat belt and was taken by ambulance to Hood River Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Alonso’s sister, Antonia Lynn Alonso, 27, of Warm Springs, was not wearing a seat belt and also was taken to the Hood River hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Antonia Alonso’s son, Isaac Leo Reynoso, 11, also of Warm Springs, was not wearing a seat belt and was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland with serious injuries.
Torres’ daughter, Letticia Yasmin Torres, 6, and son, Jose Damian Torres, 5, were flown by LifeFlight to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland with serious injuries. Their safety restraint use was not immediately known, Wilcox said.
O’Neal also was seriously hurt in the crash and taken by ambulance to Hood River Hospital, then flown by LifeFlight to OHSU, Wilcox said. Seat belt use was not known, she added.
O’Neal’s right-front passenger, Josh David Muonio, 16, and center-rear passenger Justin Theodore David, 15, both of Battle Ground, Wash., were taken by ambulance to Hood River Hospital, the latter with non-life threatening injuries. They were only wearing lap seat belts, not shoulder restraints, the sergeant said.
Highway 35 was shut for about two hours after the crash, which remains under investigation.
It was the third deadly two-vehicle crash on slick, icy roads in Oregon in as many days, after others Thursday on Highway 97 north of Chiloquin and Friday on Highway 197 south of The Dalles.
