SAN DIEGO — Family members identified the 43-year-old woman and 12-year-old girl officials say were killed by a teen driving the wrong way on Interstate 805 as mother and daughter Aileen and Aryana Pizarro.
Aileen Pizarro’s 22-year-old son Dominic said the two lived in San Diego’s College Area. Aileen was a marriage and family therapist and Aryana was set to start seventh grade on Monday at the Creative Performing and Media Arts School.
The mother and daughter were headed to Orange County Thursday when 18-year-old Carmel Valley resident Trevor Heitmann, a popular YouTube personality known as “McSkillet,” hit them head-on as he sped down the highway in the wrong direction in a 2014 McLaren sports car.
When they didn’t return from their trip, 19-year-old brother Angelo Pizarro started to Google for information about crashes on the freeways where they might have traveled, Dominic told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
He found news of the fiery crash. Later, a CHP officer knocked on the door of the Pizarro family home.
The teen called his older brother — who was out of state, driving back from a trip — and gave him the stunning news.
“I lost it,” Dominic said Friday as he drove back to San Diego with his grandfather.
An Air Force Reservist who is starting work on his masters degree, he said he’d last seen and hugged his mom and sister last week before leaving on a trip with his grandfather, who also lives at the family home.
“There’s a lot in my head,” Dominic told FOX 5. “There’s points where — at the beginning — I hit the front of my car, I was crying, I had tears. And then at the same time I would have a minute of clarity and I would sit back and say I’m so happy that both went, not one, not the other, not a coma or anything that would have been so hard for them to handle.”
At just 12 years old, Aryana’s airy, bright voice was supported by the jazz piano work of her siblings — known as The Pizarro Brothers — and could draw a crowd anywhere. The three jammed, laughed and supported one another through it all.
“Best little sister a brother could ask for. She loved without question. Unconditional support,” Dominic said.
He says his mother was beloved by her family, friends and neighbors.
“She would do anything for us, anything,” Dominic said. “I remember a lot of great times. Road trips … singing for no particular reason. It was the greatest thing ever.”
The family has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral costs and additional expenses.
Read Pauline Repard‘s full story on San Diego Union-Tribune.
If you are involved in a Car Accident in San Diego, California Call our attorneys at 800-816-1529.