Mother, Child ID'd In Fatal I-15 Crash; Mourned By Family, Friends

FALLBROOK, CA —Monday marks eight days since a wrong-way driver triggered a pileup on Interstate 15 in the North County area, killing a San Marcos mother and her 4-year-old child, according to the California Highway Patrol. Now, the community is rallying to help raise funds for the family of those killed.

Courteney Taylor, 29, of San Marcos and her daughter, Amaya, 4, both died at the scene of the crash on I-15 southbound, near State Route 76 on April 23.

The family of the pair is processing their grief and has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help to pay for funeral expenses, and the generosity has been overwhelming, sister Kelsi Taylor wrote on the page.

"Everyone who has ever met Courteney has known her as a living angel," she wrote. "Amaya was our family's guiding light."

Kelsi Taylor told NBC 7 that her sister and niece had been in Temecula for a fun pool day before the fatal crash. She added that Amaya would have spent the afternoon doing an art project had she made it home safely.

"I just want everyone to know that truly beautiful and sweet people exist because Courteney was one of them and she was raising Amaya to be one too,” Kelsi Taylor told NBC 7. "People like Courteney make the world a worthwhile place to be. She just always wanted the best for everybody and to help. They both did."

In keeping with her memory of her sister and niece, Kelsi Taylor is currently working to partner with non-profit organizations that support single mothers here and women/girls of the Middle East.

"Amaya was half Afghan, and Courteney was passionate about the rights and well-being of persecuted people around the world," she wrote in an update to the GoFundMe page. "Courteney and Amaya loved to help."

To donate to her fundraiser, go to www.gofundme.com.

Related: Fatality Reported In Major Crash On I-15