|
Pregnant woman, 3-year-old son identified as crash victims |
|
|
|
Written by James Leonard | Patterson Irrigator
|
|
Wednesday, 06 August 2008 |
 Monica Martinez, 27, and her son, Eloy Bahena, 3, both of Westley, were killed in a two-car accident Monday night on Highway 33. Courtesy photo
The family also confirmed that Martinez, whose 2003 Mazda6 was struck head-on by a 1999 Chevrolet Blazer, was about two months pregnant.
Bahena died when the car was consumed in flames after the accident, according to the Stanislaus County coroner’s office. His body showed no internal injuries from the crash.
The Mazda burst into flames after coming to rest on the east shoulder of Highway 33 after the accident, which happened around 10:50 p.m. Monday. The Blazer drifted across a solid double-yellow line while traveling southbound on Highway 33 just south of Rogers Road, colliding head-on with the northbound Mazda.
Martinez also died in the fire, but multiple injures caused by the impact contributed to her death.
The driver of the Blazer, Patterson farmworker Mario Saldivar, 26, died from injuries sustained in the collision. The Blazer overturned after the crash and came to rest on its wheels on the west shoulder of Highway 33.
Martinez’s twin sister, Perla, said Monica and Eloy were returning home from Gustine along with Monica’s boyfriend, Baudelio Raygoza. They had driven to Gustine together to pick up Raygoza’s car from a repair shop and to pick up a prescription for Martinez’s prenatal vitamins.
“Usually she would not drive at that hour,” Perla Martinez said. “But she said she really needed her prescription. Her boyfriend was trying to talk her out of it, but she said, ‘No. I’ve already been waiting for a week. I can’t be without my medicine.’”
They were returning to Westley in separate cars, with Raygoza following Martinez’s Mazda, when the accident occurred. Perla Martinez said Raygoza, the father of Monica’s unborn child, saw the accident and tried to pull Monica and Eloy from the car, but then it burst into flames.
Perla Martinez said her sister, who graduated from Patterson High in 1999, was a stay-at-home mom who was planning on becoming a daycare assistant.
“She enjoyed being around her son,” she said. “He was her life. She would love writing and drawing, reading to her son, and being with her boyfriend.”
Monica Martinez had separated from her husband, Rodolfo Bahena, shortly after becoming pregnant with Eloy. She lived with her son, sister and mother in Westley.
Maximo Virgen, a 43-year-old man from Patterson, was a passenger in the Blazer and was the lone survivor in the accident. He suffered major injuries and was flown by helicopter to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, according to California Highway Patrol spokesman Tom Killian.
An article in the Modesto Bee on Wednesday listed Virgen in fair condition, but a spokeswoman for the hospital said later on Wednesday that he was in serious condition but would not elaborate on his injuries.
Virgen is being treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
To contact James Leonard at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
