A California man faces murder charges after he allegedly drove under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol (DUI) which resulted in a crash that ended his young daughter’s life. Ernesto Avalos, 28, also was charged with two felony counts of child endangerment and a felony DUI, court documents obtained by People show.
Alexa Avalos, the daughter of Ernesto, was only five-years-old when Ernesto’s alleged actions cut her life tragically short.
Family Identified Alexa Avalos as the Victim of the Crash That Was Allegedly Caused by Her Father Who Was DUI.
Alexa’s identity was confirmed by members of her family who established a GoFundMe campaign shortly after her untimely death.
“The memories will remain, however nothing can take the place of Alexa in our life,” the girl’s uncle, Timothy Fisher, wrote on the page. “This more so concerns my dearest youngest sister Stephanie who has lost her one and only daughter. Her pain is known only to her. I can’t fathom the agony she is experiencing.”
***UPDATE*** During the investigation into the traffic collision officers found evidence that Ernesto Avalos was…
Posted by Colton Police Department on Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Officers responded around 2:25 PM on Sunday afternoon to reports of a single vehicle collision. When they arrived, they found Avalos and the two children inside the car, according to a Press Release from the Colton Police Department.
All three individuals involved were transported to the hospital, where Alexa ultimately died.
The vehicle was traveling southbound when it crossed over a center median and collided with an electrical pole before coming to rest in the northbound lane of the road, a preliminary investigation by authorities claimed.
Ernesto Avalos was already facing a misdemeanor DUI charge at the time of the incident, according to publicly available court records.
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He is currently being detained at West Valley Detention Center without bail, jail records show. It is not clear if he has entered a plea at this time as counsel for the defendant has yet to be named.
This is such a tragic situation. If what police allege is true, it’s a cautionary tale for every parent to always put your kids’ lives above your own and to never use alcohol or other drugs when driving. It’s likely the incident would have been avoided altogether had this young father obeyed the law and did not DUI.