5 family members killed in fiery crash on remote Southern California highway

Five members of a Fresno family, including 4-year-old twin girls, were killed in a crash while traveling to a graduation ceremony in Arizona, officials said. Officers with the California Highway Patrol responded to the fiery two-vehicle collision around 8:20 a.m. on May 22 in the eastbound lanes of State Route 62 near Cadiz Road in Freda, a remote community about 40 miles west of the Arizona border, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Investigators said the family’s vehicle was struck by another driver, identified by the county coroner as 60-year-old Holly Chafey of Desert Hot Springs, who was also killed in the crash. On impact, the family’s vehicle erupted into flames. Sergio Leon, 38, his wife, Herminia Hernandez, 39, their twin daughters, Naomi and Nyah Leon, and Sergio’s brother, Antonio Leon, 36, were all pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. A cousin told the Los Angeles Times that as relatives began arriving at the ceremony, Sergio, Herminia, Antonio and the two young girls never made it. “Together, they were a family defined by love, laughter, devotion, and unwavering support for one another,” the organizer of a GoFundMe for the surviving family members wrote. “Their bond was evident to everyone around them, a beautiful reflection of kindness, strength, and deep family love.”