Orange, CA, November 9 – A teenage girl who was critically injured in a two-vehicle crash in Yorba Linda has died from her injuries, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. She is the second person to die as a result of the collision, which also killed a 16-year-old boy who was driving the car in which she was a passenger. The sheriff’s department identified her as 16-year-old Brooklyn Mejia.
Yorba Linda Teen Passenger Dies, Becomes Second Fatality in Friday Crash
The crash happened around 8 p.m. on November 6, a Friday, at the intersection of Yorba Linda Boulevard and Ohio Street in Yorba Linda. Two vehicles collided, and one of them struck a tree afterward. Matthew Andres Santome, 16, of Placentia, was driving one of the vehicles, with Mejia riding as his passenger. The driver of the other vehicle stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Santome was taken to a hospital after the crash, where he died from his injuries, the sheriff’s department said. Mejia was also taken to a hospital and was listed in critical condition as she received treatment. She was initially reported to be 15 years old, but the sheriff’s department later said her correct age was 16.
On Sunday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department announced that Mejia had died from her injuries while still receiving treatment, making her the second person to die from the crash. The crash remains under investigation by the sheriff’s department, which has not released additional details about how the two deaths occurred beyond confirming them.
Investigators have not released the cause of the crash, including what led the two vehicles to collide or what caused one of them to strike the tree. It is also unclear whether any citations have been issued in connection with the collision. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has not announced any additional findings beyond Mejia’s death.
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.
