Crash Kills Girl, 10, in Pickup
SHERMAN OAKS — Authorities said Tuesday they would file vehicular manslaughter charges against a 20-year-old woman who rear-ended a pickup truck on the San Diego Freeway, which the CHP says killed a 10-year-old girl riding in the truck’s cargo bay.
The truck carrying Tara Alisaje was traveling south near Burbank Boulevard about 11:50 p.m. Monday, said CHP Officer Dwight McDonald, when it was struck in the rear by a car driven by Yvette Hernandez, 20, of Los Angeles.
The pickup overturned, hurling Tara out of the rear bay and into the center divider. The other two passengers in the cargo area--5-year-old Crystal Robertson and 20-year-old Lovella Smith--were airlifted to hospitals with serious injuries.
The driver of the pickup, Glenn Palabrica, 29, and the occupant of the passenger seat, Jennifer Rodriguez, 24, both wore seat belts and were not injured, McDonald said.
There was a camper shell over the cargo area, McDonald said, but that was not enough protection. “Pickups were designed to carry loads, not people” in their rear bays, he said.
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