By Skylar Smith
Published: October 26, 2009
Categorized in | Campus News, Local News
By Skylar Smith
Daily Titan Staff Writer
Two San Bernardino women were killed Monday when an alleged drunk driver crashed into their Chevy Silverado head-on while driving west in the eastbound lane of the 91 freeway.
Jessica Shekell, 22, has been released on bond as of 6:04 p.m. Dec. 15, 2009. Her pre-trail hearing is set for Feb. 26, 2010. Photo courtesy of the Orange County District Attorney's Office
The driver of the Silverado, Sally Miguel, 44, was driving east bound in the FasTrak Express lane when Jessica Shekell, 21, a Fullerton resident and Cal State Fullerton freshman transfer majoring in sociology, collided head-on with her 2003 Toyota Tundra. Shekell was sent to UCI Medical Center.
Also riding in the Silverado was Patricia Miguel, 30, sister to Sally Miguel, who sat in the passenger seat while nieces Sara Miguel, 11, and Mary Miguel, 15 sat in the backseats. Sally Miguel died on the scene and Patricia died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The two nieces, Sara who received major injuries, and Mary who received moderate injuries, are currently being held at separate hospitals, one of them being UCI Medical Center.
John Murray, head of media relations at UCI Medical Center, said Shekell is currently in “fair condition” and that one of the Miguel girls is also at the hospital, however because they are both juveniles he cannot say which girl.
The accident occurred at 3:02 a.m. right after a report came in to the California Highway Patrol about a driver going the wrong way at 2:55 a.m. “We had a unit right in that area,” said Officer Denise Quesada. “Our units were there literally almost as the collision occurred.”
“The 911 caller called it in at Imperial Highway,” Quesada said, she added that the officer arrived on the freeway at Kramer Avenue. “Our units were coming to the area when, I don’t know if he actually witnessed or heard it or came upon the aftermath, but he looked over the radio at 3:02 and there was a head-on collision.”
Shekell, who may have had alcohol in her system, was driving west on the eastbound side of the 91 freeway when she collided with Miguel’s truck around Lakeview Ave. According to the California Highway Patrol, the Miguel family was driving back from a night at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park to their home in San Bernardino.
“The passengers of the (Silverado) were not wearing seat belts so therefore they sustained major injuries, but everyone stayed within the vehicle. I don’t believe anyone was ejected,” Quesada said.
Shekell, who graduated from Cabrillo High School in Lompoc Calif., before moving to Fullerton played on the school’s volleyball team. She attended Cuesta College and Fullerton College before transferring to CSUF this semester.
Amanda Murray, a long-time friend from Lompoc said, “We’ve been to a couple of parties together but we always had a designated driver. She is responsible.”
Katie Pendleton, Shekell’s friend since kindergarten, stated that Shekell is familiar with the dangers of reckless driving as two of her high school friends, Brice Fabing and Mikey Terrones, died in a Halloween accident in 2005 when they were speeding and crashed at a dead end.
The CHP are currently investigating Shekell for possibly driving under the influence and depending on the results, the District Attorney can press charges, Quesada said. “Obviously there could be a DUI,” Quesada added. Based on the history and evidence gathered during the investigation process, Shekell could be facing charges such as manslaughter or vehicular manslaughter.
Kaitlin Paiz, Patrick Cowles, and Portia Bode contributed to this article.
Shekell has been charged, find out about her counts here.
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Judging by her myspace and facebook pages social drinking was a part of this girls life. she left friends drunk. somebody that was a friend to this girl let her drive in that condition. Jessica will have to face the consequence of her actions. her friends sadly will just say, “glad it was not me.” NEVER LET YOUR FRIENDS DRIVE DRUNK.
When will people learn that drinking and driving do not mix? After the tragedy involing Nick Adenhart and our fellow CSUF students, it’s somewhat ironic that this crash occured on the same night The Angels were elminated from the playoffs. Let’s pray the 2 children sitting in the backseat don’t die.
I’m so sorry for the loss of lives and injuries in the accident of the innocent ones. Jessica, however, have fun in prison.
THIS GIRL IS VERY SELFISH TO DRIVE LIKE THAT DRUNK … SHE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO AA CLASSES INSTEAD OF CSFU ….THE SAD PART IS THAT THIS HAD TO HAPPEN SO SHE COULD BE IN JAIL FOR THE REST OFF HER LIFE…I SUGGEST THAT PEOPLE WHO DRINK AND DRIVE AND CAUSE A FATALITY SHOULD GET A LIFE SENTENCE AND NEVER GET I OUT IF SHE DID IT ONCE SHE WILL DO IT AGAIN…
Erik is right – her MySpace page is filled with words and images of partying and drinking. Real cute, but two innocent people are dead and two more (children) seriously injured. That family is scarred every day for the rest of their lives, through no fault of their own.
I hope they throw the book at her; She deserves it along with all of her alcohol-chugging buddies.
wow. all one sided, yes she broke the law. how about the two people that died could still be alive. There are seat belts in a car for a reason. I guess she had some common sense to wear one when she was under the influence, but it also shows how smart some people really are for not wearing one. Do i care for the other people. Nope. do I have cold hart? Nope. Don’t be lazy and wear a seat belt.
So she should spend her live in jail, because other people didn’t click it. some of you should get off the road, or hopefully never get in an accident.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/freeway-early-crash-2623541-eastbound-way
Yea, check out her myspace page. There are pictures of her in cars, holding alcohol. Clearly she is incredibly irresponsible and she appears to be a heavy drinker. It is unfortunate that people continue to get behind the wheel after drinking. It makes me so angry, and very sad. That poor Miguel family….
People died because she was driving the wrong way on a Fast Trak and most likely under the influence. And SHE hit them head on. Yes, they should have been wearing their seat belts, but more importantly, she should not have been on the road in the first place.
so lets say this….. you blow out a tire doing 70+ MPH hit the wall. two people die. who is at fault? get this hint. they MIGHT be alive if they had a seat belt. you know, they are in vehicles for a reason. once again. one sided. why is it her fault. so the alcohol killed them. or the injuries from them not having a seat belt killed them. yes the accident would have never happened but it did. look at the whole box. not just one side of it did like 99% of the people due once the magical word of ALCOHOL is thrown out there. is it sad. yes, COULD they all be alive YES. how do i know this. Jessica had a seat belt and she survived, and her truck is smaller than the silverado. is that just luck?
(a Person) has to be a friend of this girl… Unbelievable trying to stick up for her what a immature one for sure.. I hope she gets the whole book and some thrown at her.
Bad analogy, blown tires are accidents unless there is gross negligence such as the treads were showing and the driver of the car failed to switch the tires in a timely manner. There are two reasons why this is Jessica’s fault. A. She was drunk B. She was driving on the wrong side of the road and hit the other vehicle head on.
Of course this is a very tragic incident. But almost ALL of us have done things that were of similar reckless and irresponsible behavior. We were just more fortunate not to have been caught.
Yes, I saw her MYSPACE page and viewed the photos of her partying and her party crowd.
Big deal.
YOUR parents have pictures like that (or worse) and quite possibly have NEVER SHOWED you. Your parents have similar, if not worse STORIES of what they did and got away with in their youth, but NEVER TOLD you (possibly because they wanted you to always believe that they were saints).
Ask them anyway (and watch their eyes).
Unfortunately, alcohol goes hand-in-hand with colleges, frat parties, homecoming celebrations, graduations, etc. I lived on Milton Avenue back in the late 80s, down from the frat houses, and almost every weekend there was plenty of alcohol, parties and trouble.
Any partier can take Shekell’s current situation as a wake-up call or not. I laugh at the attitudes I hear like, “That could NEVER happen to me.”, or “I’m a better driver drunk, than sober.” But, do as you will.
This isn’t the first time this type of incident has happened and it won’t be the last. Just Google ANY major city on Mondays and read their local news. It’s always identical stories.
I would ask that everyone (who cares to) to pray for all the people involved here in hopes they may find comfort and closure, because it’s going to be a long time for the pain to heal. Christ Jesus be with them (and us) all.
“There but for the grace of God, go I.” – John Bradford
Why is it that the drunken idiots that cause these accidents always seem to be the ones to survive? Half of her MySpace photos show her and her friends drinking– she even has a photo of them drinking in a car. I assume the police will also charge her with two counts of vehicular manslaughter murdering two others with her recklessness. And really, the wrong way on a freeway? You’ve got to be pretty blitzed to accomplish that.
I agree with James. Yes her myspace photos might be all party picutres and having a good time. But seriously so what. EVERY college student even that hight school students are out drinking like every weekend having fun with friends. Yes she did something wrong and will have to deal with it for the REST of her life. Not only will she be punished by the courts but she will be punished for the rest of her life with the thoughts she has of that day.
You people are judging someone by pictures you see on myspace im sure if you go through your kids things or back in your day you will find pictures of the same thing!!
All these people defending her make me sick. The preferred defense now seems to be “oh everyone has pictures of them out drinking with friends” but going through my own friend lists on myspace and facebook there are almost none of these pictures. And sure, there are photos taken of me and my friends while we were drunk but we don’t have them uploaded on these social network sites trying to show what “awesome-cool-party-dudes” we are. Photos like that speak to just how immature Jessica is and the risky behavior she engages in.
Yeah, as a college student I party and drink. Taken stupid photos too. But I’ve never let myself go far enough that I’m so gone I drive home or drive on the wrong side of the road. So what if people are judging her by her photos? She’s caused the deaths of two people and seriously injured two kids. I’m sorry if any little empathy I could feel for her ruining her life went away when she decided to get behind that car. Heck, add that to her so-called friends who let her go. They need to wise up too. But I doubt it. They’ll continue to be the fairweather friends they seem to have been.
I’ve read the many comments on the page for all of you that are making comments about someone that you don’t know. I don’t take offense to any of them because everyone has a right to their opinions. What I would like to interject is that I do personally know Jessica and she is far from that which many of you described. Jessica is a great girl who MAY HAVE made a bad decision. As all the details aren’t out, I reserve judging her on what is SPECULATED to have happened. Jessica is no more different than any of the other 21 year olds that we come across in life. Should the accusations be true, then she made a horrid decision that ended tragically. All that I ask is that you choose not to judge her alone by her myspace pictures, doing so would dismiss many, many great qualities that Jessica has. There’s more to this young lady then what you all have concluded. Jessica I am sure is devastated by what has transpired and is the type of person that will stand up and take responsibility for whatever comes her way. My heart goes out to those who lost their lives in this situation and also to the Shekell family. To all you with negative comments, those with glass houses need not throw stones. We should all use this opportunity to think upon those near misses we all have had – not just with drinking and driving but any other reckless behavior and be thankful that we have come through unscathed.
Yes, what she said ^^^.
My Heart Goes Out To The famliy and the lil girls who seen this in there eyes god bless the driver who did this to them may all of you all pull thoue
I as well grew up with jessica shekell. She truely is an amazing person and a great friend. I feel for those who have lost thier lives and those who were injured in this terrible accident, but dont you dare say she is a bad person, she made a mistake like we all do sometimes, maybe not as bad, but still. I know she is truely sorry, but she is still my friend and i wish her the best. stay strong jessica. I miss you..get well soon!!!