PALMDALE (CNS) — The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has identified the teenage girl fatally struck by a car operated by a DUI driver while crossing a Palmdale street as Jasmine Destiny Santiago.
The accident occurred Sunday, Feb. 18, at about 9:40 p.m., on 47th Street East north of Avenue S, according to Detective Aaron Borits of the sheriff’s Palmdale Station.
Santiago, 16, was not in a designated crosswalk when she crossed 47th Street East from the west side to the east side, Borits said. She was struck by a black 2015 Nissan Altima driven northbound on 47th Street East by a 25-year-old man, Borits said.
Santiago was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 11:14 p.m., a spokesman for the coroner’s office said.
The Altima driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI, he said.
The intersection was shut down until 12:30 a.m. for the crash investigation, Borits said.
Santiago was a cousin to the grandchild of San Fernando Mayor Sylvia Ballin, who said the teenager and her family would visit Ballin during the summer.
“She loved her family very much. And she was a big part of our lives,” Ballin said of Santiago. “So young; she had the world in front of her. Then this tragedy by a drunk driver, who has ruined his life as well as her family’s.”
Earlier on Sunday Ballin had learned of the death of Renee Fogg, a cousin of her niece, when her son called to tell her about Santiago. Fogg was killed in Huntington Beach. She was also struck by a passing car while crossing a street.
(The San Fernando Valley Sun/El Sol contributed to this report.)