Family, Friends Mourn Esparto Teen Killed During Driving Lesson
ESPARTO (CBS13) – Officers say a teen being given a driving lesson by his father lost control in a matter of seconds.
Marcos Trujillo, a 13-year-old from Esparto, was killed in the resulting crash.
Friends showed us a picture of Marcos waving to the camera. They say it was taken just hours before he died.
"I don't know. It's just very hard to believe. I mean, I don't know how this happened," a friend said.
California Highway Patrol says it happened about 8:45 p.m. Friday. Officers say the boy was behind the wheel, going the speed limit – 55 miles per hour. His father was in the passenger seat teaching him how to drive.
"It is a country road with minimal lighting," said Sgt. Brent Shultz with CHP.
Officers tell us the boy lost control on this gravel road and overturned into a ten-foot ditch.
But friends say learning how to drive out here isn't uncommon.
"Here in Esparto, it's much easier because of the farms, the backroad, anything," friend says.
Outside the Trujillo house, family members asked for privacy. Their neighbors say they're having a hard time comprehending such a loss.
"It blows you away with the age," said neighbor Brandon Halley. "I take my daughters around here and drive around the go-cart."
Later Saturday night, at the boy's middle school, friends and family gathered for a private memorial.
"He was young," the friend said. "[He] had so much to look forward to."
A GoFundMe page set up for Marcos' memorial has raised more than $1,000 as of Saturday night.