As some people might know, near Eisenhower High School, on Walnut and Riverside Avenue there is a memorial of two young girls.Perhaps you might have wondered what tragedy occurred there.
Two innocent babies got their lives taken away. Stated by Lisa Avilez the grandmother of those two little girls, when she was interviewed by Leanne Suter the day of the accident, on November.23. 2024 The grandmother also said she had just bought Christmas presents for the two girls. Link . A drunk driver driving at a high speed in a blue Dodge Ram pickup truck crashed into the car of the parents of those two little girls. The most tragic part was that the girls were in the back seat of the car. The parents’ car was identified as a White Honda, where one can see in the footage the back part of the car was the most damaged.
The drunk driver in question was identified as 28-year-old Alexis Jose Garcia. According to the journalists Christian Casarez and Helen Jeong, Alexis Jose Garcia “pleaded not guilty to seven charges. The grandparents of the two little girls, 3-year-old Alena and 4-year-old Neveah, attended the arraignment in Rancho Cucamonga.” The day of the arraignment was four days after the crash happened. Police also mentioned how a nearby home’s camera appears to show how Garcia attempted to run away from the accident. (Link)
25-year-old Marky Flores and 24-year-old Valencia Avilez, the parents of the girls, were also in the car when the accident happened. Marky Flores “suffered moderate injuries but was expected to survive”. Valencia Avilez, the mother of the girls, was not injured at all in the accident. Other family members also were interviewed. The girl’s uncle, Angel Rodriguez, told Julie Sharp the journalist that interviewed him how he is “devastated, shocked, hurt, sad, scared for the future, worried for my mom, sister, our family, but hope justice gets served”.(Link) Angel Rodriguez was interviewed the same day of the arraignment, as well as the grandmother.
According to Cameron Kiszla, one of the journalists “Garcia had a passenger in his pickup, but it’s unclear if that person was arrested as well”. (Link) The police also also discovered that the pickup driver left the scene in his vehicle, but he was detected a quarter mile away. Additional info about Garcia includes that as of 5 p.m. on November,23,2024, the police of Rialto said Garcia was still in the hospital for some major injuries sustained when the accident happened.
