Hesperia, CA, November 2 – A 9-year-old girl lost her life and two others were hurt after two vehicles collided at a Hesperia intersection on Monday morning, according to deputies. The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office identified the child who died as Mia-Tafi B. Fetu, who lived in Hesperia. A white Mercedes-Benz GLE and a red Honda Civic were involved in the wreck, which was reported just after 7 a.m. at Escondido Avenue and Palm Street.
Hesperia Girl, 9, Dies in Two-Vehicle Crash at Escondido Avenue and Palm Street
According to deputies, early information suggests the Honda Civic was in the process of making a turn off Palm Street onto Escondido Avenue at the time of impact. Palm Street traffic is governed by stop signs at that intersection. The Mercedes-Benz, headed south on Escondido Avenue, struck the Civic; investigators have not yet determined how fast the Mercedes-Benz was moving.
The two girls riding in the Honda Civic, its only occupants, along with a woman who had been in the Mercedes-Benz, were all taken to a hospital following the wreck, deputies said. Fetu did not survive her injuries, according to deputies. In a message sent to families, Mission Crest Elementary School confirmed that one of its own students had been killed in the crash.
Investigators say the collision remains under active review, and no cause has been officially established. Authorities have not released the current medical condition of the two girls or the woman from the Mercedes-Benz, nor said whether either driver faces a citation. The exact circumstances that led the vehicles into each other’s path, including why the Civic entered the intersection, have not been made public.
What the at-fault driver is required to carry, and why it often is not enough
Vehicle Code section 16056 sets California’s minimum liability limits, and they changed recently. For a policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, the minimum is $30,000 for injury to or death of one person, $60,000 where two or more people are hurt, and $15,000 for property damage. Policies written before that date may still carry the older minimum of $15,000, $30,000 and $5,000.
Those are floors, not typical limits, and a single hospital admission can exhaust the lower figure before any other loss is counted. Where the at-fault driver carries the minimum, the uninsured and underinsured motorist cover on the injured person’s own policy is often the part that matters most, and it is worth checking early rather than after the other insurer has made an offer.
The deadline that applies to a claim like this one
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives two years for an action for injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another. The same two years covers an injury claim and a death claim; there is no separate, shorter period because someone died.
Who is entitled to bring a claim when someone is killed
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 decides who may bring a wrongful death action. The first group is the surviving spouse, domestic partner, children and the issue of deceased children, or, where there is no surviving issue, whoever would take the estate by intestate succession.
A second group may bring the action only if they were financially dependent on the person who died: a putative spouse and their children, stepchildren, parents, and the legal guardians of the person who died where the parents are deceased. Parents are in that second group, which is the part families are most often surprised by, because dependency has to be shown rather than assumed.
Talking to someone about it
Culver Legal represents people injured in collisions across California. A conversation about what happened costs nothing, and we work on a contingency fee, which means there is no fee unless we win. If we do not win, we do not pass the case costs on to you either.
Nothing on this page is legal advice about any particular case, and the facts of a reported collision often change as the investigation continues.
