Alcohol may have been a factor in traffic death of boy

Another tragedy has struck an area high school. A Westlake High School freshman died after an auto accident Friday night involving a suspected drunken driver.

Lester Turcios, 15, died at 12:30 p.m. May 3 from blunt force head injuries, according to Senior Dep. Medical Examiner Armando Chavez.

The Newbury Park youth was riding with his family at around 8:30 p.m. Fri., May 2 in a car driven by his father that was exiting Janss Road off the 23 Freeway, possibly going to Conejo Valley Days, when the back of the car where Lester was sitting was struck by another vehicle, CHP Officer Brandon Mumme said.

The SUV that allegedly rearended the Turcios family's car was driven by Jason Allen Frey, 37, of Newbury Park. Frey had his 17monthold son as a passenger and, according to information given to investigators on the scene, was on his way to his girlfriend's house, Mumme said.

After the accident, Frey was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving resulting in injury and held at Ventura County Jail in lieu of $70,000 bail. The teen's death occurred following Frey's arrest on that charge.

According to CHP reports, the toddler in the 1996 Ford Explorer with Frey was also injured and was taken to Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center for observation. Frey also went to the hospital, complaining of pain.

The Turcios family- two adults, Lester, and another juvenile- were assessed at the scene and the two injured youths were taken to Los Robles.

Lester was not wearing a seat belt, but Mumme said a seat belt probably would not have saved his life because of the extent of damage to the area where he was sitting in the 1997 Toyota Camry. The other child, who had what the CHP described as minor injuries, was wearing a seat belt.

According to the CHP, Frey's Ford Explorer was traveling north on the 23 Freeway south of Janss Road when it rear-ended the Turcios' Camry, causing a chain reaction crash that shoved a station wagon forward into an SUV.

Sheriff's investigators suspected teen drinking and unsafe speed were factors in an April 8 single-vehicle accident that killed a teenage male driver and left a teen female passenger with critical head injuries. Two male teens in the car suffered broken bones.

The driver, Cody James Murphy, 17, and his four passengers all attended Newbury Park High School.

Newbury Park High held an assembly Friday to address the accident. A school official said the assembly aided the students in the healing process, and counselors were also kept busy helping the grieving young people.

Counselors at Westlake High School are available to help their students cope with this tragedy along with any other issues the teens might be struggling with.