The mother of a 24-year-old good Samaritan killed in a chain-collision involving six vehicles on the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in Cerritos in 2017 is suing two drivers involved in the incident, including one who was allegedly drunk at the time.
Alba Trujillo, the mother of the late Gabriela Hernandez-Trujillo of Huntington Beach, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Amy Michelle Johnson of Long Beach and Ulises Zavala Rodriguez.
The suit alleges wrongful death, negligence and battery. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
The crash occurred about 2:50 a.m. March 11, 2017, on the southbound lanes of the 605 Freeway, just north of the Artesia (910) Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said at the time.
The chain of events started when Mario Antonio Hernandez-Ayala, the driver of a 1999 Saturn, crashed into another vehicle, the suit states. Hernandez-Ayala also died of his injuries.
Hernandez-Trujillo was a passenger in another car involved in the crashes that was driven by Rodriguez, the suit states. After getting out of the car in which she was riding so she could check on the condition of Hernandez-Ayala and offer her assistance, Hernandez-Trujillo realized that it was too late to help him, the suit states.
While walking back to the car in which she had been a passenger, Hernandez-Trujillo was struck by another car driven by an intoxicated Johnson, the suit states. Hernandez-Trujillo died later at a hospital. The plaintiff, who like her daughter and Rodriguez also lives in Huntington Beach, alleges he was driving negligently at the time of the collisions. The freeway was temporarily closed in both directions.
