Investigators in California are trying to figure out what caused a fatal car crash on the freeway. For reasons that are still unknown, a car stopped during traffic, causing two more cars to slam into each other. The second car held two adults and their two children — three of them were seriously injured, and sadly the fourth, an infant, was killed. Their car bore the brunt of the impact because it was in the middle, which left the vehicle basically decimated. The damage to the car made it practically impossible to save the family trapped inside. Police have their work cut out for them, but it doesn’t seem like anyone will face charges.
There isn’t a lot of information about what happened.
The car crash occurred just after 7:30 p.m. on March 29, 2026, in the northbound lanes of the 215 Freeway in Riverside, KABC reported. According to the California Highway Patrol, a Honda Civic was stopped because of traffic ahead. A Nissan slammed into the back of that vehicle, and then a Toyota slammed into the back of the Nissan.
Despite having a rough outline of what happened, the CHP noted that the exact sequence of events is unknown and still under investigation. The Nissan, which had two adults and two small children inside, received the most damage. Both children were in the back seat of the car, restrained in car seats, KTLA reported. One of them was a toddler, and the other was 3 months old.
The rear of the vehicle was completely destroyed, video obtained by KTLA showed. Due to the type of damage done to the Nissan during the crash, it was practically impossible for witnesses to offer any kind of real help.
People who saw the car crash jumped in to help anyway.
Crews from the Riverside Fire Department worked to extricate the children from the back of the car. Video from the accident scene shared on YouTube shows two car seats that were removed from the Nissan, and bystanders spoke about attempting to try to free the family from the crushed car.
“We all tried to pry the doors open. They were pulling sporadically, and I decided to say, ‘One, two, three,’ and we would pull… Obviously, we are just human. We are not machines, so we could not get it open,” bystander Cianca C. told KABC.
“We urgently tried to get to the children in the back, but we were not successful. I tried keeping the parents calm and telling them that I was there, trying to get any information that I could.”
According to reports, a dog was also in one of the cars, and people worked together to secure the animal.
The victim has been identified.
The Riverside County Coroner’s Office identified the 3-month-old who died as Leon Edgington Morales, CBS LA reported. According to paramedics on the scene, a pediatric patient was rushed to a local trauma center. Four others were taken to nearby hospitals.
Police said the driver of the Toyota had moderate injuries, but the driver of the Nissan received major injuries in the crash. Firefighters had to use hydraulic-powered tools to extricate the people trapped inside. The driver and passenger of the Honda complained of pain from the crash, but they didn’t go to the hospital.
Investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol played a part in the accident. They are still looking into information about what could have caused the crash. Anyone who witnessed it is encouraged to call the California Highway Patrol Accident Investigation Unit at (951) 324-7210.
