The Antelope Valley Times

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Authorities ID two women killed in AV traffic crash

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SUN VILLAGE – Authorities have identified two women who were killed Thursday afternoon when a pickup truck ran a stop sign and crashed into their vehicle in the Sun Village area.

Ericka Gonzalez, 26, of Lake Los Angeles, and Esmeralda Rangel, 23, of Littlerock, were pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, which happened around 2:38 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, on Avenue R at 100th Street East, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office and the California Highway Patrol.

According to a CHP report, Gonzalez was driving and Rangel was a passenger in a 2020 Hyundai Venue that was traveling northbound on 100th Street East.  Gonzalez “stopped for the stop sign at the controlled intersection of Avenue R,” and then she subsequently proceeded into the intersection and was hit by a 2019 GMC Sierra that was traveling eastbound on Avenue R at an “unsafe rate of speed” and “failed to stop for the posted stop sign,” according to the CHP report.

“The front end of the GMC collided with the left side of the Hyundai. As a result of the impact with the GMC, the Hyundai was propelled in a northwesterly direction where it crashed into [a] Toyota,” the CHP report states.

The GMC’s driver, 41-year-old Juan Jose Escamilla of Littlerock, sustained minor injuries in the crash, and he was arrested at the scene, according to the CHP.

“The involvement of alcohol is suspected to be a factor at this time and is still under investigation,” the CHP report states. A passenger in the GMC, 40-year-old Jose Chavez of North Carolina, sustained moderate injuries in the crash, according to the CHP report.

The occupants in the Toyota — 28-year-old Melissa Rodriguez of Littlerock and 41-year-old Iliana Rodriguez of Palmdale — were not injured in the crash, the CHP report states.

The crash also downed a utility pole and power lines, so Southern California Edison was contacted, the CHP said.

The collision remains under investigation.

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19 comments for "Authorities ID two women killed in AV traffic crash"

  1. Dear AV Times,

    My sister Erika was the driver in this terrible accident. Our family and friends are completely heartbroken and feel so sad without here. I’m reaching out in hopes of getting your help to publish her go-fund me page in efforts to lay this angel to rest. Please help us.

    To anyone reading this story, please enjoy every second that you get with your loved ones. We never expected this to happen, and wish we had more time with her. She was only 26 with a full and beautiful life/ future ahead of her.

    We wish this was a nightmare, and that she was here with us today.

    Thank you for your time, and God bless you all.

    -The Gonzalez Family

  2. Rest in peace to these two girls I knew Esmeralda back in high school and she’s a sweet girl the drunk driver deserves consequences

  3. My sincere condolences to the family of these young ladies. May Gods love help and comfort you during this time and ease your pain.

  4. Piece of [removed]!!! Same thing happen to my son he was going through a intersection when he was broadsided killing my son and braking my other sons neck and both his femurs. He got involuntary manslaughter. Never spent 1 day in jail. How do you think there parents feel when they got that call??!!! It’s going to change there lives forever. I hope and pray that justice is served here. My deepest condolences to the families. Your nightmare has just began ☺️

  5. Sounds like they didn’t clear the intersection. Just because you have the right away doesn’t mean the oncoming vehicle is going to stop.

  6. Not really anything to say about this. Condolences to the families from people that don’t even know them in the comments section of a local news site always seem to ring a little hollow to me, so I don’t generally post them. My views on drunk driving are pretty well known by this point so repeating them just because you are obsessively waiting with baited breath for me to speak doesn’t contribute anything to the general good. Not a high priority when I am otherwise engaged.

    • Ave R between 100 st east and 95th street east are always having accidents, i live near by. City needs to do something. My condolences

      • Sun Village is unincorporated area. To get anything done there you need to get the county to do it. Kathryn Barger is your representative.

  7. REPEAT PROBLEM DRINKERS SHOULD BE ORDERED TO NEVER DRINK AGAIN…

    GIVEN BRIGHT PINK DL ID CARDS…

    BIG LEGAL PENALTIES AND PROBLEMS FOR THOSE THAT SERVE THEM OR SELL THEM BOOZE…

    ALL SHOULD NOT SUFFER BECAUSE A FEW CAN’T DRINK LEGALLY AND RESPONSIBLY…

    ***

    • ACE, you wrote>

      “BIG LEGAL PENALTIES AND PROBLEMS FOR THOSE THAT SERVE THEM OR SELL THEM BOOZE.”

      Great idea. If problem drinkers had pink ID cards and everyone had to be ID’d in a bar or liquor not just those under 21, that might go a long way to abate drunken driving and other alcohol related problems.

      You can be sure some 40 or 50 year olds would complain like crazy simply because we can’t solve any problems when there are folks who won’t abide by anything they don’t like. See stories on resistance to wearing masks.

  8. REPEATED PROBLEM DRUNKS SHOULD ALL BE ISSUED BRIGHT PINK DRIVERS LICENSE ID’S …

    AND EVERYONE SHOULD BE FORBIDDEN TO SELL OR GIVE THEM BOOZE…

    ***

  9. The roads in rural areas outside the AV are absolutely lawless, especially Littlerock and Lake LA.

    RIP young ladies

  12. It is UNBELIEVABLE how DISGUSTING drunk DRIVERS are. Those CRIMINALS should Never be let out of prison for THEIR HORRIBLE AND DISGUSTING negligence, I don’t understand how it’s possible for those CRIMINALS to keep on living with themselves after all the pain and suffering they cause.
    THOSE MONSTERS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO EVER GET BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A VEHICLE OR BETTER YET NEVER GET OUT OF PRISON.