NBC 7’s Dave Summers spoke to the victims’ son and brother.
The San Diego mother and daughter killed when a wrong-way driver collided with their vehicle on Interstate 805 were identified by a family member Friday.
Aileen Pizarro, 43, and her 12-year-old daughter, Aryana, were killed Thursday when a McLaren driven by Trevor Heitmann, 18, crashed into their 2010 Hyundai minivan, killing them.
They were identified by Dominic Arman Pizarro, the victims' son and brother. He spoke to NBC 7 as he was driving back from Louisiana.
"I really am devastated that one person's actions could take my family away from me," Dominic said.
Dominic said his mother was a family therapist who most recently worked with abused children.
Heitmann, who was also killed, was driving the McLaren the wrong way Thursday on I-805 in University City during the evening rush-hour commute, the California Highway Patrol said.
CHP Officer Jake Sanchez said investigators believe Heitmann drove southbound onto the northbound I-805 HOV lane at the Carrol Canyon Road direct access ramp before colliding with the Hyundai at speeds in excess of 100 mph near Governor Drive.
Sanchez said the 100 mph estimate is not definitive and is based off several witness reports.
Local
"I've been to several horrible crashes," Sanchez said. "The speeds to do what he did to the vehicle -- that vehicle was completely disintegrated at that scene for lack of better words. [The speed estimate] could corroborate with the amount of damage that was sustained at that scene."
Aileen's boyfriend, LeRoy Phillips told NBC 7 she was the light of his life, and describer young Aryana as a shooting star ready to light it up on her first day of 7th grade Monday.
"Anywhere we were she went out of her way to bring joy her way through singing and performing," Phillips said of Aryana.
She and her mom were on their way to Orange County to pick up contact lenses for Aryana when they were hit, Phillips said.
Prior to the crash, San Diego police officers responded to reports of a reckless driver at Ashley Falls Elementary School off Del Mar Heights Road in Carmel Valley after a vehicle crashed through a gate on the campus. The car had left the scene before officers arrived.
Sanchez confirmed Friday Heitmann's car was the car involved in the incident.
Sanchez said investigators do not know if there was any motive behind the incident at the elementary school or Heitmann's decision to enter I-805 against traffic.
Dominic said he can't find it in his heart to blame Heitmann for the damage he caused and instead will try to remember what his mother would want him to do.
"He was not in his right frame of mind and that was the reason he found himself going the wrong way on the highway," Dominic said. "My prayers and thoughts are for his soul and his family as well."
Eight people were injured in the crash, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
A GoFundMe was started to help the family with funeral expenses.
Heitmann operated a Youtube channel where he discussed virtual gun models, or "skins," for the popular online game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Over the past four and a half years his videos racked up more than 200 million views.
