Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Drugs Ruled Out in Fatal Crash
SANTA CLARITA — An autopsy showed that a 15-year-old girl was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when she collided with two other vehicles on June 1, killing herself and two other passengers in her car, authorities said Wednesday.
JoKema du Bois of Canyon Country was weaving her grandmother’s car back and forth on Seco Canyon Road moments before the collision, according to witnesses. A friend in the car said Du Bois was trying to amuse a 3-year-old passenger, but speculation that the teen-ager might have been under the influence of drugs had circulated among her peers and family members of the five girls in the car.
Ed Luster, Du Bois’ uncle, said he knew about the rumors but they didn’t cause him any additional grief.
“Not to me, because I knew there was nothing there,” he said.
In addition to Du Bois--an unlicensed driver who reportedly took her grandmother’s car without permission--the accident took the lives of Gena Watkinson, 15, and Jesika Noell, 3.
Du Bois’ sister, Barbara, 14, remained in critical condition and Alicia Acevedo, 14, was in stable condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, said Deborah Moore, a hospital spokeswoman.
The occupants of the other vehicles were not seriously injured.
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