Yuma woman killed in head-on collision near Needles, Calif.

A 24-year-old Yuma woman died Friday from injuries sustained in a head-on collision near Needles, Calif.

Three other Yumans were also seriously injured in the same accident, and had to be life-flighted to nearby hospitals.

The deceased Yuma woman, who was a backseat passenger in the car, has been identified as Jennifer Clark. Injured were 21-year-old Jonathan Mendoza, 21-year-old Daniel Fitts and 23-year-old Carmen Grijalva, all of Yuma.

According to the California Highway Patrol, at about 5:40 p.m., a Chevrolet Impala driven by Mendoza was traveling north on U.S. Highway 95 south of the Nevada state line.

Mendoza crossed a double yellow line attempting to pass a long line of cars ahead of him but did not see a Chevrolet pickup traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 95, the highway patrol said.

The driver of the pickup, a 50-year-old woman from Las Vegas, saw that Mendoza had crossed into her lane and swerved right onto the right shoulder of the roadway in an attempt to avoid a collision, CHP said.

Mendoza also swerved, except he went to the left, which put him on the same shoulder of the roadway as the pickup and directly in front of it, CHP said.

"The two turning movements resulted in a head-in collision, after which both vehicles burst into flames," said Officer Wyland LaFave of the Needles station of the California Highway Patrol.

LaFave said passing motorists stopped and pulled all the occupants from vehicles. Clark was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation by Burlington Southern Railroad police, but died at scene from her injuries.

Injured with the driver of the pickup was her daughter, whose name and age was not available.

LaFave said three of the injured were flown to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas and two were taken by ambulance to the Colorado River Medical Center in Needles, all with serious injuries.

Mendoza is listed fair condition and Fitts was listed as in good condition at the Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

A condition report on Grijalva was not immediately available Tuesday.

---

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.