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As mother is buried, son’s injuries worsen

Community: Matilde Garnica’s body to be buried in Mexico while her teen son remains hospitalized

Posted: July 13, 2010 7:28 p.m.
Updated: July 14, 2010 6:30 a.m.
 

As relatives of Matilde Garnica — a mother of three killed during Santa Clarita’s July 4 fireworks show — accompanied her body to Mexico on Tuesday for burial, her hospitalized 13-year-old son’s condition worsened, according to the family's attorney.

Eric Garnica, who is being treated and hospitalized at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles for severe leg and head injuries, has been unable to go to any of his mother’s services. The devout family has hosted several prayers at its home since the crash, and hundreds attended a wake and a funeral Monday night and Tuesday morning.

“Eric has taken a little bit of a turn for the worse,” the Garnica family’s attorney, Ross Stucker, said Tuesday. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

Stucker declined to give specifics, but said Eric has recently been displaying new, serious symptoms that may be related to the boy’s head injury.

The Garnicas and other relatives were watching the city’s fireworks show at the Westfield Valencia Town Center from the intersection of Valencia Boulevard and the Mall Entrance. An Infiniti sedan driven by a 22-year-old Canyon Country woman allegedly ran a red light and collided with an SUV, sending the sedan spinning into the crowd, according to sheriff’s investigators.

Garnica, 43, died instantly, and seven others — all her relatives — were injured. Eric Garnica suffered the most serious injuries, though others as young as 4 were treated at a local hospital.

No arrests have been made in the deadly crash as authorities continue their investigation, but detectives don’t suspect drugs or alcohol were involved.

Detective Jeff Maag said he planned to meet with prosecutors this week to determine how to proceed with the case.

Matilde Garnica will be buried next to her mother sometime this week at her hometown about 150 miles away from Mexico City, Stucker said.

Meanwhile, Stucker said he is awaiting the results of the detectives’ investigation and has one of his own investigators looking into the fatal crash before he files a lawsuit.

“We’re going to do the right thing,” Stucker said. “We’re going to make sure we have the facts down as they are before we take any other action.”

 

Jul. 13, 2010 07:28p.m. EDT As mother is buried, son’s injuries worsen The Signal

As relatives of Matilde Garnica — a mother of three killed during Santa Clarita’s July 4 fireworks show — accompanied her body to Mexico on Tuesday for burial, her hospitalized 13-year-old son’s condition worsened, according to the family's attorney.

Eric Garnica, who is being treated and hospitalized at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles for severe leg and head injuries, has been unable to go to any of his mother’s services. The devout family has hosted several prayers at its home since the crash, and hundreds attended a wake and a funeral Monday night and Tuesday morning.

“Eric has taken a little bit of a turn for the worse,” the Garnica family’s attorney, Ross Stucker, said Tuesday. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

Stucker declined to give specifics, but said Eric has recently been displaying new, serious symptoms that may be related to the boy’s head injury.

The Garnicas and other relatives were watching the city’s fireworks show at the Westfield Valencia Town Center from the intersection of Valencia Boulevard and the Mall Entrance. An Infiniti sedan driven by a 22-year-old Canyon Country woman allegedly ran a red light and collided with an SUV, sending the sedan spinning into the crowd, according to sheriff’s investigators.

Garnica, 43, died instantly, and seven others — all her relatives — were injured. Eric Garnica suffered the most serious injuries, though others as young as 4 were treated at a local hospital.

No arrests have been made in the deadly crash as authorities continue their investigation, but detectives don’t suspect drugs or alcohol were involved.

Detective Jeff Maag said he planned to meet with prosecutors this week to determine how to proceed with the case.

Matilde Garnica will be buried next to her mother sometime this week at her hometown about 150 miles away from Mexico City, Stucker said.

Meanwhile, Stucker said he is awaiting the results of the detectives’ investigation and has one of his own investigators looking into the fatal crash before he files a lawsuit.

“We’re going to do the right thing,” Stucker said. “We’re going to make sure we have the facts down as they are before we take any other action.”

 

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