A 19-year-old suspected drunk driver killed when he plowed his car into trees was the father of a two-year-old girl, his family told NBC 7 San Diego.
According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), driver Erick Ordonez Olguin and his passenger, also 19, were traveling at a high speed in the 900 block of Mariner's Way when he lost control of his 2003 Ford Mustang. His vehicle veered off the road and slammed into some trees.
The father was celebrating a friend's birthday Friday night when he was pulling out of the Mariner's Point parking lot and crashed into a tree, friends said. Olguin was taken to a local hospital with major, life-threatening head injuries. He was pronounced dead at the hospital several hours after he arrived. The passenger suffered minor injuries. No other cars were involved in the crash.
A growing memorial at the site of the crash has candles, pictures and beer bottles under the tree where Olguin died.
The mother of his child, 19-year-old Alyssa Corrales, sat under the tree Monday morning, mourning the loss of her boyfriend. She said she has been struggling to tell their daughter, Aubrey Chanel, where their father is.
Aubrey asks daily where her dad is, Alyssa said, and she can only respond with tears. She said if she could tell Erick one last thing, it would be that she loved him.
High school friend Devin Tanzela said Olguin, who was nicknamed "Tiny" because of his height, loved cars, shoes and skateboarding.
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"I try not to look at his picture, because every time I did, I started crying," he said. "I looked away, think about it, think about it, talk to him. It still hasn't fully hit me yet. I wake up, think it's not true, look at his picture, and it hits me."
The crash is under investigation, but police suspect alcohol played a factor.
