6-year-old boy dies of injuries from drunk driving accident
By Frances Dinkelspiel May 29, 2012, 10:53 a.m. Jan. 5, 1:31 a.m.
Xavier Chevez died of his injuries on May 25
The 6-year-old boy who was in a car that hit a traffic roundabout at 64 miles per hour and rammed into a tree died of his injuries on Friday.
Xavier Chevez died at 6:30 p.m. at Children's Hospital in Oakland, according to the Alameda County Coroner's office. He had lingered seven days after the May 18 accident, but was in a coma on life support with minimal brain function.
His mother, Milanca Alicia Lopez, a UC Berkeley student who was planning to attend graduate school at UCLA this fall, died at the scene.
The driver, Jose Lumbreras, 24, of Berkeley, has been charged with drunk driving and gross vehicular manslaughter. More charges may be coming. Prosecutors said he had a blood alcohol level of 0.219%, which is more than twice the legal limit of 0.08%.
Lumbreras, a graduate student at Cal, was living with Lopez and raising Chevez as his own child, according to police. They were driving in a Cadillac north on California Street near Allston Way when Lumbreras crashed into the roundabout and then slammed into a tree. Lopez was not wearing her seatbelt. Xavier was wearing a seatbelt. Lumbreras was also injured in the accident and was arrested while he was in the hospital.
Lopez's friends have set up a Facebook page in her memory. The photo of Xavier was posted there.
Berkeley man charged with manslaughter in fatal crash [05.23.12]
Car strikes tree in central Berkeley; kills one, injures two [05.18.12]
Frances Dinkelspiel is co-founder and executive editor of Berkeleyside. Email: frances@berkeleyside.com.
2012 homicideHomicideJose LumbrerasMilanca Lopez