2 Young Kids Killed In Hit-And-Run While Riding ATV In Apple Valley

APPLE VALLEY, CA — Two children ages 12 and 11 have died after authorities said they were riding an ATV in Apple Valley when they were fatally struck by a side-by-side utility terrain vehicle.

On Saturday, Jacob Martinez was riding with family friend Christina "Tina" Bird on Stoddard Wells Road when they were hit by someone on an orange Polaris RZR Pro, Martinez and Bird's family members wrote in separate GoFundMe posts.

The driver "left their bodies on the dirt road all alone," Bird's family said. Witnesses said the driver briefly stopped before turning off the lights and slowly driving away, KNBC reported.

"We were told that the first person that tried to perform CPR to my nephew turned him around but the only part that turned was his top half of his body because he was so broken so we knew immediately that he was dead," Daisee Montano, the boy's aunt, told KNBC. "And my brother was weeping on the ground to please help his son come back to life."

Paramedics came but couldn't help Martinez.

"On Saturday July 2nd our beautiful baby boy Jacob Martinez gained his wings," GoFundMe organizer Julie Flores wrote. "There are no words to describe the void he leaves behind, our family is devastated by this tragic loss."

Bird was hospitalized in grave condition after the crash. The family told KABC-TV she suffered multiple broken bones and a severed spinal cord.

On Wednesday, relatives said she, too, died of her injuries.

"This is so difficult to write but I just want to let everyone know that the doctors did their final tests today to see if there is any life in Tina," organizer Ernest Nunez wrote. "The results were negative. Tina has grown her pair of wings to join her Grandma and Grandpa in Heaven where she is pain free."

Sonya Nunez said Bird had a heart of gold, and is now an angel watching over them and dancing with her grandma.

"She was so loving and caring to all, she did not deserve this! Jacob did not deserve this," she wrote in a Facebook post.

Money raised through Martinez's account will go toward giving the boy the "farewell he deserves," organizers said. As of noon Wednesday, the community raised more than $14,000.

Money raised through Bird's campaign will go toward funeral services and any medical and family expenses. Her account raised more than $18,000 as of noon Wednesday.

Martinez was remembered as a sweet, smart, warm-hearted boy whose life was cut too short.

"Jacob was a very gifted, intelligent, sweet, and loving student of mine," a former teacher who donated to the account said in a comment. "I was lucky enough to be his teacher for both 2nd and 3rd grade. I’m am so sorry for your loss, he will be missed."

One relative called the crash a "tragedy and a nightmare," one she wished she could wake from.

"I cannot take the heartache of losing my baby brother & sister… my parents are really going through it… there’s no words that will make anything better & give us the justice needed," she wrote in a Facebook post.

Ernest Nunez said Bird was a "huge love bug."

"She has the biggest heart and when you are around her she shows it," he wrote in a GoFundMe update Tuesday. "She gives the biggest and best hugs one could ask for. If you can give a hug to anyone near you for Tina I'm sure she will know."

Bird was energetic, he said. She loved music and dancing, and often recorded videos on TikTok. She also loved the pool and ocean, so much so the family joked she could be part mermaid — "she wouldn't ever want to get out of the water."

At a vigil Tuesday, the family asked the driver to come forward.

"I ask that if you were there with that person, or know of that person who was there ... saw what happened ... please be compassionate and come forward," Martinez's sister Cynthia Nunez said, according to KABC. "Don't hide them."

“Why flee? Why flee? You left two children to die,” Montana, Martinez's aunt, told KNBC. “My nephew was mangled. He was trampled to death."

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