The medical examiner’s office in Napa County has identified all six victims who were killed last weekend when the minivan they were travelling in struck a tree, the Sheriff’s Office said.
All six victims were farm workers based out of the Stockton area, according to the Sheriff’s Office. They are Loreto Ricardo Hernandez, 42, Fernando Silverio, 34, Araon Ruiz Ruiz, 39, Beymar Reynosa Rodriguez, 32, Demetrio Celerino Francisco, 39, and Pedro Lopez Gomez, 57.
Norberto Celerino, 53, of Stockton, is facing six felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a felony count of DUI causing injury with two prior convictions for driving under the influence and causing the crash, prosecutors said. The DA said Celerino has a third DUI from over ten years ago which cannot be used against him due to statutory limits.
Celerino veered off Pope Valley Road and hit a tree shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday northeast of Calistoga, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said Celerino and a passenger who survived the wreck were flown to trauma centers with major injuries and were still hospitalized as of Tuesday.
In addition to the murder charges, Celerino is facing special allegations including inflicting great bodily injury with a deadly weapon and that the crimes involved violence, cruelty, viciousness or callousness; that the crimes demonstrate an increasing level of seriousness compared to previous crimes, and that he was on probation at the time and showing a poor performance while doing so.