A daughter is mourning her parents who died after a two-car crash in the Bay Terraces neighborhood of San Diego last week and hopes their deaths will lead to action on what she says is a dangerous intersection.
Lucy Acuna, the daughter of crash victims — Ernest Martinez Acuna, 76, and his wife, Olivia, 74 — described the crash as being "like a flash."
"I blacked out for a minute and then when I came through, I was like 'Where are my parents? Where are my parents?' Lucy Acuna told NBC 7. “And I saw my dad is not in the car and we found him on the other side and he must’ve hit the pole at such a high impact."
At that point, Lucy Acuna turned her attention to her injured mom.
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"Everybody came out," Lucy Acuna said. "I asked someone to call 911 and I went around to my mom and I thought she was going to be OK, but she wasn't."
Olivia Acuna was transported to Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego where she was pronounced dead. Both passengers died from multiple blunt force injuries, the Medical Examiner's office said on Sunday.
Neighbors say the intersection of South Woodman Street and Jamie Avenue where the crash occurred Tuesday around 9:50 p.m. is a dangerous one.
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"It's very often that happens here," Martha Roman said. "Over Woodman coming up from the freeway, which is the 54 east in Paradise Valley, probably all the way from Skyline, they use this street to [speeding] cars."
During an investigation, detectives learned a 24-year-old man was driving a Honda heading south and a 56-year-old man driving a 2006 Kia Sedona in the opposite direction when the Kia attempted to turn onto Woodman without yielding the right of way, said SDPD Sgt. K. Gibson.
Acuna, 76, was one of four occupants traveling northbound in the 1500 block of South Woodman St.
The Kia was making a left turn onto Jamie Avenue when they hit another vehicle, ejecting Acuna, who was not wearing seatbelt, SDPD said.
Witnesses called 911 and paramedics rushed to the scene, where they tried to save Acuna's life, but his death was pronounced at the scene, police said.
The Acunas lived in a small, close-knit cul-de-sac with less than a dozen homes, their neighbor Barbara Reid told NBC 7.
"This cul-de-sac is not going to be the same without them," Reid said. "This court, this is our court, they were coming home. They were coming home to be at home where we all live at. we know each other, we look out for each other all the time. And it's not going to be the same without Livie and Ernie."
Lucy Acuna hopes her parents' deaths won't be in vain and is hoping the city will put lights at the intersection.
"There's lights at all these other intersections so I'm hoping that my mom and dad will be able to do that."
