Fatal, CA, November 3 – One person died and three others, including a 6-month-old girl, were injured Sunday night when three vehicles collided near Day Creek Intermediate School, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Investigators later determined that the driver of one vehicle intentionally struck the car carrying the victims, the department said. The driver is expected to face arrest on suspicion of murder and attempted murder once she is medically cleared, authorities said.
Rancho Cucamonga Crash Near Day Creek Intermediate School Leaves One Dead, Three Injured
The crash occurred at approximately 9 p.m. at the intersection of Day Creek Boulevard and Wilson Avenue, near Day Creek Intermediate School. Deputies responding to reports of a collision with injuries found three vehicles and six people involved. One of the vehicles carried four occupants, all Rancho Cucamonga residents: 40-year-old Leslie De Belen, a 38-year-old man, a 61-year-old woman and a 6-month-old girl. All four were taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Despite lifesaving efforts, De Belen was pronounced dead, the Sheriff’s Department said. The conditions of the other three occupants, including the infant, have not been released. The driver of the second vehicle, a 32-year-old woman from Oceanside, was also injured and taken to Pomona Valley Medical Center. The occupant of the third vehicle was not injured.
Following an investigation, detectives determined that the driver of the second vehicle intentionally struck the victims’ vehicle, according to the Sheriff’s Department. She is expected to be arrested and booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder once medically cleared for release from the hospital, authorities said. Further details about what led to the collision have not been released, and the investigation remains ongoing.
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.
