2 Killed In Highway 152 Crash Identified
GILROY (CBS SF) -- The Santa Clara County medical examiner's office has identified a 5-year-old boy and his aunt who were killed in a crash Friday morning on state Highway 152 in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Pacheco State Park.
Rosa Cornejo Villanueva, 35, of Mendota, and her nephew, William Soriano Cornejo, 5, of Salinas, were killed in a solo-vehicle crash around 7:10 a.m. on westbound Highway 152 just west of Dinosaur Point Road, CHP Officer Jaime Rios said.
Cornejo's mother, a 27-year-old Salinas woman, was driving the four-door Chevrolet west on the highway and lost control in the left lane, Rios said.
The car veered onto the right shoulder, drove up a hill on the side of the road and overturned, then landed back on its wheels, Rios said.
Passersby stopped and helped pull out the driver, Villanueva and Cornejo just before the car burst into flames, according to Rios.
Villanueva and Cornejo were pronounced dead at the scene.
The boy's mother was taken to Regional Medical Center of San Jose with a fractured neck and ribs. She remained at the hospital this afternoon but is expected to survive, Rios said.
Rainy weather and unsafe driving speed likely contributed the crash, which happened on a slick, downhill part of the highway, Rios said.
Part of the two-lane highway was blocked for about four hours due to the crash.
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