SANTA CRUZ — Police officials have identified the woman killed while crossing Highway 1 with a young child early Thursday morning as 24-year-old Midori Montalvo.
In an update to the investigation, Santa Cruz Police Department detectives believe Montalvo, who was believed to be living at a nearby family shelter, may have been crossing the freeway against the light and outside of a crosswalk, according to department spokeswoman Joyce Blaschke.
The under-construction intersection, where Highway 1 and River Street meet, is considered by most experts as Santa Cruz County’s highest-traffic volume intersection. In recent years, a 29-year-old Santa Cruz man was killed in a crosswalk at the north side of the intersection with River Street when he was struck by a northbound vehicle at 10:30 p.m., Jan. 5, 2018. Earlier, Dene Diannthe Shaw, 59, of Santa Cruz, was killed June 10, 2015, while crossing the freeway in a crosswalk. Shaw had been staying in a shelter at what it is now the Housing Matters campus and was struck in a hit-and-run crash between 12:30 and 1 a.m. that morning, police said at the time.
Montalvo is believed to have been pushing her 4-year-old child in a stroller or carriage around 12:45 a.m. when she was struck by a sedan headed northbound on Highway 1, Blaschke said. A witness told police that they yelled out to Montalvo to warn her not to proceed, but was not heard, Blaschke said. The girl was under treatment for serious injuries at an area medical facility after the crash, police said.
The driver reportedly immediately stopped and awaited police arrival after the crash, Blaschke said. The driver has faced no charges or arrest and police investigators do not believe speed or negligence were factors in the crash, she said. Despite life-saving efforts at the scene, Montalvo died later at an area hospital, police said.
Source: www.mercurynews.com