A 15-year-old local girl was killed in a Sunday, Nov. 4, crash involving two of her siblings.
According to the California Highway report of the incident, at about 4:45 p.m. Sunday Nov. 4, Jeremiah Whitney, 16, of Mountain Center, was driving a 2000 Toyota Avalon southbound on Highway 243 just north of Saunders Meadow Road. The report indicated the car was travelling at an unsafe speed when, for unknown reasons, it veered and collided with a rock.
The driver suffered lacerations to the face and was transported by Reach Air Medical Services to Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley.
Two passengers were in the car. One, right-rear seat passenger Reese Whitney, 13, suffered serious injuries — possible spinal fracture, spleen injury and nose fracture, and was transported by Mercy Air to Riverside University Health System Medical Center.
Front-right passenger Lilah Whitney, 15, was pronounced dead at the scene.
One other crash was reported over the weekend. At 10:50 a.m., also on Sunday, Nov. 4, Khanxay Phanthilath, 33, of Murrieta, was riding a white and blue Suzuki GSX4 750 eastbound on Highway 74 just west of Southfork Trail when he allowed his motorcycle to turn in an unsafe manner, causing a crash into a wood-and-metal guard rail. Complaining of pain, Phanthilath was transported by American Medical Response ambulance to Hemet Valley Medical Center in Hemet.
