The Dominguez family was driving home to Bakersfield from the 4th of July holiday weekend at Pismo Beach when an alleged drunk driver came speeding towards them.
Melissa Dominguez did what she could to avoid a head-on collission, relatives said Monday.
The California Highway Patrol arrested Pedro Munoz, 27, of Delano for Felony DUI and three counts of Vehicular Manslaughter for Sunday's crash on Highway 43 near Panama Lane.
The crash was called in at 3:54 in the afternoon July 5th.
According to the Highway Patrol, a motorcycle officer conducting speed enforcement caught Munoz at 83 miles per hour on radar. Munoz was heading in the opposite direction of the officer.
"He went to pull over to the shoulder to make a u-turn, and by that time the SUV appeared to have accelerated," said Captain Brian Smith.
Investigators said Munoz weaved through cars and into oncoming traffic. Melissa Dominguez was driving their Ford F250 which was pulling an RV trailer. Her husband was in the passenger seat and her two children and a friend were riding in the back.
Her uncle, David Garcia, said Dominguez saw the speeding SUV coming and told her family to brace themselves for a crash. She did what she could to avoid a head-on, he said.
Instead, the SUV hit the side of their pick up and buckled the trailer.
He became emotional when he spoke with 17 News Monday morning outside of Kern Medical Center, where Dominguez is hospitalized.
"I love my niece," Garcia said. "I love her so much. This is the first tragedy that's ever happened to our family."
Melissa Dominguez suffered a broken leg and a broken pallette in her mouth. Her daughter, Sara, 11, is at Children's Hospital in Madera.
Her husband, Alex, 33, has been released by the hospital but he has bruised ribs.
Their son, Alexander, 15, has also been released.
A friend, Jonathan Herra, 15, is at Mercy Hospital downtown, awaiting back surgery.
Garcia and his family are outraged this crash was caused by a suspect drunk driver.
"They need to seek God," Garcia said, reffering to drunk drivers. "Give the keys to someone else. They just need to stop driving that's it. If they're going to drink, give the keys to someone else."
The suspect's children, Issis Zepeda, 5, and Eduardo Munoz, 7, were both killed.
His wife, Lilliana Edith Ulloa-Gutierrez, 24, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
Munoz was charged in 2007 for DUI, but the charges were reduced to reckless driving. He was also convicted for spousal abuse that year, according to Superior Court Records.
Pedro Munoz was on parole when the crash happened. He is at Kern Medical Center in moderate condition.
