Three killed in head-on crash on Abbott Street outside Salinas

Three young people, including a 19-year-old UCLA student from Downey, were killed in a head-on collision on Abbott Street just outside Salinas around 9:04 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office coroner identified the three victims as 19-year-old Abigail Tinoco, 18-year-old Sebastian Burgos and 18-year-old Noah Trevino, KSBW 8 reported.

Main Street in downtown Salinas. The Monterey County Sheriff's Office coroner identified the three victims as 19-year-old Abigail Tinoco, 18-year-old Sebastian Burgos and 18-year-old Noah Trevino.

Agarre16 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Source

The crash involved a black Nissan sedan and a white Honda SUV on Abbott Street between US-101 and Harris Road, near the Firestone Business Park. One person was pronounced dead at the scene and the two others died after being taken to the hospital, according to a report citing CHP details. Both vehicles carried at least three occupants each, and the three who died came from both vehicles.

Tinoco had graduated from Downey High School as salutatorian and competed in track and cross country, the New York Post reported. A sophomore pre-law student at UCLA, she served as a youth president at her church and was completing the final weekend of a certified nursing assistant program. "I don't even know how to write this, because Abby is someone we are supposed to still be talking about in the present tense," her sister wrote on the family's GoFundMe page.

The John Steinbeck Highway sign marks the US-101 corridor. According to the California Highway Patrol, the two vehicles collided on Abbott Street between US-101 and Harris Road around 9:04 p.m. Sunday.

Coolcaesar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Source

Burgos, also a Downey resident, had just begun his first quarter at UC Santa Cruz as a biology major and wanted a career in veterinary medicine. Trevino, 18, was from Soledad, and his brother Nathan was also injured in the crash.

Ambulances converged on Natividad Medical Center, the county's trauma center, after the crash. The cause remains under investigation, and authorities are asking anyone who witnessed it to come forward.

A mural-covered barn along US-101 near Salinas. The cause of Sunday night's crash is still under investigation, and authorities are asking anyone who witnessed it to come forward.

Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress (Public domain) · Source