Girl, 14, Dies After Laguna Beach Collision

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Friends and family are mourning the loss of a 14-year-old Laguna Beach girl who died after a car crash this week. The girl's 11-year-old sister and the driver of the car were seriously injured in the accident, which occurred on Laguna Canyon Road Tuesday morning, police say.

On Tuesday, a 74-year-old family friend who was driving two sisters to school in his Lexus SUV. He allegedly suffered a blackout, according to Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Jim Cota.

While heading Westbound on Laguna Canyon at approximately 50 miles per hour, the Lexus struck a dump truck before 8 a.m. in the 700 block of Laguna Canyon Road.

The driver "drifted towards the shoulder, where the Lexus collided with an occupied parked dump truck," Cota said. The dump truck driver was uninjured in the crash, according to reports.

The SUV, however, spun "out of control until it collided with a tree in the center median," Cota said.

The three occupants of the Lexus were taken by ambulance to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo with serious injuries.

The 14-year-old girl, a freshman at Laguna Beach High School, died Wednesday night, according to police. Her little sister is recovering after a surgery for broken bones, according to GoFundMe. The fundraiser was established for the mother of the two girls to pay for hospital costs, funeral expenses and any ongoing needs she will face.

In an email to families Wednesday night, Laguna Beach Unified School District Superintendent Jason Viloria explained the incident:

Dear LBUSD Families:
We want to provide you an update on yesterday’s serious car accident involving two LBUSD students who attend El Morro and Laguna Beach High School. We are heartbroken to share with you that the high school student died this afternoon as a result of the injuries sustained in the car accident.

We want to let you know that we have resources available to provide immediate support services should you or your child need them. Counseling support is available for any student that needs to speak with a counselor, and we have requested additional counseling support from the county to assist us in providing support. We have included these resources for you should you need them:

• Helping Children Cope with Grief and Loss
• Developmental Responses to Grief

We know that our community will want to express their care and support to the family impacted by this tragedy. We are honoring the family’s request for privacy. If we receive additional information to share, we will provide you with an update.

Jason Viloria
Superintendent of Schools

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