A UCLA sophomore who wanted to become a lawyer was one of three young people killed in a head-on collision near Salinas late Sunday.
Abigail Tinoco, 19, died alongside Sebastian Burgos, 18, and Noah Trevino, 18, when two vehicles slammed into each other on Abbott Street between US-101 and Harris Road at approximately 9:04 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash forced the closure of the roadway and sent emergency crews scrambling to the scene.
Tinoco’s sister struggled to find words for the loss, launching a GoFundMe campaign that captured the shock of the family. “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,” she wrote on the fundraising page.
The sister painted a portrait of relentless drive behind the petite frame. “If you knew Abby, you knew she was always doing something. She was this tiny little human being, but oh my, was she determined. If she wanted something, she worked until she got it. It honestly felt like she never got tired,” she continued.
That determination had carried Tinoco from Downey High School, where she graduated as salutatorian, to UCLA, where she was pursuing pre-law studies as a second-year student. She also ran track and cross country, served as youth president at her church, and was wrapping up her final weekend in a certified nursing assistant program when the crash occurred.
Burgos, another Downey resident, had just begun his academic journey at UC Santa Cruz as a biology major with his sights set on veterinary medicine. “His early departure from us has left us broken. Sebastian is survived by our 13 year old brother, Jose, our parents, myself, as well as the rest of our family and friends who loved Sebastian as much as we did,” his brother wrote in a separate fundraiser.
Trevino’s family also turned to GoFundMe, creating a page to “help ease the financial burden that can come with an emergency like this.” His brother Nathan sustained injuries in the same wreck that killed Noah.
The collision involved a black Nissan Altima and a white Honda CR-V, each carrying at least three occupants. Three people survived the impact and were transported to a local hospital for treatment. The California Highway Patrol has not yet determined the primary cause of the crash.
Emergency responders flooded Natividad Medical Center in the aftermath, with six ambulances and multiple CHP vehicles converging on the emergency room, according to KSBW 8.
All three online fundraisers have now surpassed $10,000 as relatives, friends, and strangers moved to support the grieving families with donations.
The triple fatality has left the Downey community reeling, with two of the victims hailing from the same city and fresh out of high school. Tinoco’s academic excellence and church leadership, Burgos’s budding scientific ambitions, and Trevino’s unknown path — all cut short on a stretch of Monterey County road after nightfall.
The surviving victims remain hospitalized as investigators work to piece together what led the two vehicles into direct, deadly contact on the two-lane road.