Pregnant Mother Expecting Twins Killed in California Crash After Driver Allegedly Runs Stop Sign

A woman five months pregnant with twins was fatally injured in a collision in San Bernardino County.

At around 8:21 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 27, first responders arrived at the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Wichita Road in Apple Valley, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Lorena Lopez was on her way to a family party with her two older children, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, in a Nissan Altima, when the driver of a Toyota Camry allegedly ran a stop sign and slammed into her vehicle, local outlets KTLA, ABC 7 and the Los Angeles Times reported.

Lopez, 33, and her unborn twins died at the scene, while her two teenage children were rushed to a trauma center with serious injuries, according to the outlets.

The identity of the 25-year-old driver of the Toyota Camry has not been released. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, he was initially trapped in his vehicle as it caught fire.

His condition is not known after being extricated from the vehicle and transported to a local hospital.

His car landed on its side while Lopez’s Nissan Altima sedan was totaled following the incident, per KTLA.

“I hope he pays… And I hope he does the time,” said Lopez’s brother, Jose, at a vigil on Wednesday, per ABC 7. “Even if he does 100 years, there is not enough time that will bring her back.”

Investigators from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Major Accident Investigative Team (M.A.I.T.) have been processing the scene of the crash and interviewing witnesses as part of their ongoing investigation.

Lopez was five months pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, at the time of her death. She was set to have a baby shower next month, her mom, Emelia Espinosa, told KTLA.

Over $15,000 has been donated to a GoFundMe page set up to cover the cost of Lopez’s funeral and to support her children.

“Lorena was a loving mother whose life was cut short far too soon,” the GoFundMe organizer wrote in the fundraiser’s description. “Her two children were also hospitalized as a result of the accident, and the family is now facing unimaginable grief and hardship.”

Candles, balloons and flowers have been placed in Lopez’s memory at the crash site, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Her boyfriend, Albert Benitez, has described her as a well-liked mother and a “workaholic” who, at one point, held multiple jobs.

“It’s unfair,” said Benitez, per the Los Angeles Times, adding, “Everybody’s grieving.”