NAPA, Calif. (KRON) — Six men who were killed in a tragic Napa County van crash were identified by authorities as farmworkers who lived in Stockton. The six victims were passengers inside a Toyota Sienna minivan when the van crashed into a tree on Pope Valley Road Sunday evening.
The six deceased victims were identified by a coroner as Fernando Silverio, 34, Loreto Ricardo Hernandez, 42, Araon Ruiz, 39, Beymar Reynosa Rodriguez, 32, Demetrio Celerino Francisco, 39, and Pedro Lopez Gomez, 57.
Only one passenger and the van’s driver survived the wreck, the California Highway Patrol said.
Hernandez’s daughter said the group was traveling together in the van on their way to work when the tragedy happened.
Hernandez’s daughter wrote on a GoFundMe page, “He’s a father of four kids, Alexis, Jose, Jasmin, and Francisco, who is 6 years old and has autism. What hurts more is that this could’ve been avoided. My family and I are low-income; my dad worked in the fields, and my mom currently works in the fields as well.”
“He’s my hero, now I need to be his at this moment,” the daughter, who is now raising donations for Hernandez’s funeral, wrote.
The Napa County Coroner’s Office said it took days to identify the six victims and notify their families. “The Mexican Consulate of San Francisco assisted with the identifications,” NCCO wrote.
The van’s driver, Norberto Celerino, 53, of Stockton, was drunk behind the wheel when the van crashed, according to prosecutors and the CHP. Celerino has a previous DUI conviction and he was charged Tuesday with six counts of murder.
No other vehicles were involved in the wreck, CHP officers said.
According to a CHP investigation report obtained by KRON4, Celerino admitted that he drank alcohol before the deadly crash. A CHP officer who questioned the driver in a hospital said he could smell “an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath,” and noted Celerino’s “slow and slurred speech,” the report states.
Prosecutors said Celerino goes by several names, including Beto Celerino-Bialva, Roberto Salvaringo-Diabla, Grabien Martinez, and Norberto Celerino. The CHP said the driver also goes by the name Norberto Celerino-Novillava.
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