Update: Grossmont High School Student Was Victim of Fatal DUI Crash

Updated at 4:15 p.m. Sunday

Grossmont High School sophomore David Gonzales and his grandmother, 73-year-old Celia Torres, were being mourned this weekend after being killed in a fiery rear-end crash Friday night blamed on a drunken driver.

Jessica Chavez, cousin of David and granddaughter of Torres, fought back tears Sunday in a phone interview, saying she was fielding media calls for the sake of a fundraiser. She says it will cost $950 a person to transport their bodies to Mexico. She set up a Facebook page to help defray expenses.

Although David, 16, was born in the United States, his father lives in Tijuana and his grandmother wanted to be buried there, Chavez said.

Chavez, a 20-year-old San Diego State University student, said David and his freshman brother, Andy, had just started school at Grossmont in September.

Although he was a fitness and weightlifting buff who loved to box, David hadn’t joined any Foothiller sports teams, she said. He wanted to get settled in his classes first after having switched several schools in recent years.

Chavez called her cousin David, who lived in Fletcher Hills, very loving—“always so fun, so cheerful. Just a wonderful person to be around.”

She recalled his bear hugs said she was the only one who still called David by his family nickname—Bird.

Chavez said she first learned of the loss Saturday morning when she received a call from her mother, Ana Vazquez—sister of David’s mother, Andrea Torres.

“I just broke down in tears,” she said, recalling a series of calls in which the identities of the crash victims weren’t certain at first.

She didn’t mention the name of the drunken driving suspect—Justin Foulds of Lemon Grove—but said: “I’m pretty sure his family is hurting too. My condolences to them. I hope the person can learn to forgive himself.”

However, she repeated several times: “Our actions can affect many lives.”

David’s mother was planning to attend church Sunday, Chavez said, and was “just trying to cope” with the loss of her son and mother in the 5:30 p.m. Friday crash on state Route 125 near Interstate 8 in La Mesa.

“She’s been bombarded by a bunch of people trying to interview her,” Chavez said of Torres. “She’s just tired. I can’t even imagine how she’s feeling.”

Besides Andy, 14 or 15, David Gonzales had another younger brother—4-year-old Ailec, named for his grandmother. His name is Celia spelled backward.

David attended one class with brother Andy had hopes of going into the military after graduating from Grossmont High School, said Chavez, a second-year SDSU student majoring in liberal studies.

Chavez said she saw her grandmother only during occasional family get-togethers and recalled her affectionate—but “sometimes annoying”—shows of love.

“You’re so smart; you’re going places. You make me so proud,” Chavez recalls her grandmother as saying during holiday get-togethers in Tijuana, where she lived in a “beautiful home.”

“The last words my Grandma told me was: ‘Jessica, don’t get pregnant. You’re too young and beautiful.’ ”

10News reported Sunday that Torres and her grandson were on their way to a doctor’s appointment in Tijuana when their Nissan Pathfinder was rear-ended.

Foulds, 39, faces vehicular manslaughter charges in the chain-reaction accident and is jailed on $500,000 bail.

 Torres and David Gonzalez were found dead in the charred wreckage of their Nissan Pathfinder, which Torres was driving, according to family and CHP reports.

The county Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to identify the victims, but Andrea Torres told 10News the victims were her mother and her son.

“My mom was the best mom in the world,” she was quoted as saying. “She was a hard-working woman who always put family first.” 
Torres told the station: “I hope people remember what we lost when they drink and drive. My son had huge dreams … so much life left to live. Now, he's just gone because of a stupid choice someone made.”

The U-T quoted Chavez as saying: “He was very nice, very charismatic. He was all into his looks because he was in high school. He wanted to look good for the ladies.”

In her Facebook fundraiser page, Chavez wrote:

My family and I are trying to stay strong for my aunt and all other family members. We're trying to take her body back home, where she wanted to be to begin with and it's $950 per body. Any kind of donation would be GREATLY appreciated. Even $1, whatever you can donate. I understand it's Christmas and all, but whatever you can donate would be appreciated by all of us. You can write a check to Jessica Chavez & send it to 6189 Montezuma Road San Diego, CA 92115