 MOM AND SON: Monica Martinez and her 3-year-old son, Eloy, were killed in an accident Monday on Highway 33. Martinez was pregnant at the time of the crash. Courtesy Photo
Sometimes she would say “Hi” or “Bye” as she passed. But she always, always acknowledged him in some way.
Martinez, 27 years old and two months pregnant with her second child, said a final farewell to her father Monday night as she drove home to Westley after a late-night run to pick up a prescription for prenatal vitamins.
Her 3-year-old son, Eloy, was seated behind her, and her boyfriend was following her in his own car. Heading northbound on Highway 33, just south of Rogers Road, Martinez’s car passed the cemetery and then was struck head-on by an out-of-control sport utility vehicle traveling south.
Shortly after the collision, the car erupted in flames, and Martinez and her son were both killed.
The California Highway Patrol suspects the driver of the 1999 Chevrolet Blazer, Patterson farmworker Mario Saldivar, 26, might have been drunk. Saldivar was pronounced dead at the scene, and toxicology reports that could confirm the CHP’s suspicion won’t be available for four to six weeks.
His passenger, 43-year-old Maximo Virgen, was the lone survivor in the crash. He was flown by helicopter to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto and was listed in serious condition on Wednesday. Virgen was intoxicated at the time of the accident, according to CHP spokesman Tom Killian.
A simple errand
Martinez’s boyfriend, 29-year-old Baudelio Raygoza, came up with any excuse he could to convince her to wait until Tuesday morning to retrieve the prescription, which was in Raygoza’s car at a repair shop in Gustine and couldn’t be filled until the following day anyway.
 A memorial marks the spot of a Monday accident on Highway 33 that killed a pregnant Monica Martinez and her 3-year-old son, Eloy. The crash with an out-of-control SUV has left friends and family, especially Martinez’s boyfriend, searching for answers. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator
“It’s hard for me to tell her ‘no,’” Raygoza said. “It’s really got to be her way. I didn’t want to get into an argument or anything. Just let her have her way.”
So they piled into Martinez’s car, her and Raygoza in the front, Eloy groggy after a nap but sitting alert in the back. They decided to take Interstate 5 south instead of Highway 33, knowing it would get them there faster, but she drove slowly to save gas.
“We were just talking,” Raygoza said. “The music was on low. I remember looking back at the boy, and he was just looking everywhere in the dark. I checked on him three times.”
Raygoza wasn’t planning on driving back in his car, which had undergone repairs in order to pass a smog test. He was always a little uneasy about driving on Highway 33, especially at night, but he decided it only made sense to pick up his car while they were there.
He led the way and she followed with Eloy as they drove north toward Westley, where Martinez lived with her mother and twin sister. As they drove through Patterson and the road widened, she pulled up alongside him, mouthed something and made a gesture to her ear, then laughed and drove off ahead of him.
Raygoza thinks she might have been trying to tell him she forgot her cell phone, because he tried to call her after she pulled away but got no answer. They continued on, and Raygoza stayed six or seven car lengths behind for safety.
As they approached the cemetery, Raygoza noticed the oncoming Blazer.
“It was darting out of control, fast, swerving all over the road,” he said. “I could see the lights of the Blazer going all over the road, from one side of the field to the other side to the other side and back. It was coming in fast.”
Raygoza isn’t sure Martinez ever saw it. He never saw her swerve to avoid the collision, and he never saw her brake lights come on. He watched the collision happen in front of him, swerved to the left, and then veered further left and off the road to avoid the Blazer, which overturned before coming to rest on the west shoulder of the road.
Raygoza ran to Martinez’s car, which was on the east shoulder. The doors were jammed, and he ran back to his car and frantically looked for his cell phone as other cars began to stop.
He yelled for them to call 911, but when he looked back, the Mazda was already in flames. There were a series of explosions, and it became utterly apparent that Martinez and her son could not be saved.
“It was like a little death trap,” he said.
Family, friends mourn
In the days following the crash, friends and family of Martinez gathered at her home in Westley.
 SOLEMN WORK: Carlos Roque places a cross alongside the Highway 33 and Rogers Road intersection Thursday afternoon in remembrance of the death of his son, Memo, who died in an accident six years ago just few feet away from Monday night’s fatal scene. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator
“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. Bahena now lives in the Los Angeles area and was notified of the accident by Martinez’s sister. Martinez was planning on starting a new life with Raygoza, the father of her unborn child.
Martinez’s older brother, Saul, described her as a family-oriented person who was always there to help if someone had a flat tire, needed a ride, or worse.
“She loved helping her family,” he said. “When my dad was sick, she would do everything. She’d take him to doctor, take him everywhere he needed to go. She sacrificed everything for her family.”
That included her son. Raygoza said the precocious child was like most his age — always wanting another toy.
“Every store we went to, we always had to buy him a toy,” Raygoza said. “It didn’t matter if it was a meat market, Wal-Mart or the dollar store — he had to get a toy.”
To contact James Leonard, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at
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The people
- Mario Saldivar, 26, of Patterson, was the driver of the Chevrolet Blazer that crossed the dividing line and struck the Mazda6. He died of injuries suffered in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.
- Maximo Virgen, 43, of Patterson, was a passenger in the Blazer. He was flown by helicopter to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto with major injuries and was listed in serious condition as of Wednesday.
- Monica Martinez, 27, of Westley, was the driver of the Mazda. She died when her car burst into flames shortly after the accident, though injuries suffered in the crash also contributed to her death.
- Eloy Bahena, 3, of Westley, was a passenger in the Mazda. He died in the fire after the crash, and he did not appear to have any internal injuries caused by the impact.
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