Highland boy's family raising money for his funeral
The family of a Highland boy killed in a DUI-related collision in the Cajon Pass on New Year's Day is holding a car wash to help cover the cost of the boy's funeral.
Evion Yanez, 4, died about 2:55 a.m. New Year's Day after he was pinned between the Mitsubishi Montero he was riding in and a lightpole on southbound Interstate 15, just south of Kenwood Avenue. He, his uncle, his uncle's girlfriend and their 3-year-old daughter were returning from a family New Year's Eve party in the High Desert when a 25-year-old San Bernardino man, suspected of driving drunk, made an unsafe lane change and clipped the back of the Mitsubishi, said California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Ramos.
The impact of the collision caused the driver of the Mitsibushi to lose control of the vehicle, which rolled about eight times before striking the lightpole. Evion died at the scene, and the woman passenger identified as Victoria Valencia suffered major injuries and remains hospitalized at Loma Linda University Medical Center, said Erica Rodriguez, Evion's aunt.
"Doctors say she may be paralyzed from the waist down. She underwent spinal surgery on Monday, and they're going to try reconstruct her legs," Rodriguez said of Valencia.
Rodriguez said Evion's mother, his 2-year-old sister and his father were traveling in separate vehicles in front of them on the freeway just before the deadly collision.
The 25-year-old suspected drunker driver was arrested and booked into jail, but posted bail the next day. He faces felony charges of driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in injury and vehicular manslaughter. Police are still awaiting toxicology tests to determine the man's blood alcohol level, Ramos said.
Evion's funeral will be Friday at the Preciado Funeral Home in San Bernardino.
The car wash will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Carl's Jr. restaurant at 1505 E. Highland Ave. in San Bernardino, west of Del Rosa Avenue.
Proceeds from the car wash will go toward the costs of Evion's funeral and Valencia's medical expenses.
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