14-year-old girl killed in Fresno County crash identified. 3 others seriously injured

A teenage girl who was killed in a two-car crash in southern Fresno County was identified on Monday.

According to Fresno County Coroner’s Office, Laton resident Marissa Cardona, 14, was killed in the collision at Mt. Whitney Avenue and Cedar Street on Saturday.

The collision happened shortly after 7 a.m. between the towns of Riverdale and Laton and north of the Kings River and the Fresno-Kings county line.

The California Highway Patrol reported that a 2020 Lexus sedan driven by 35-year-old Ashley Engen of Hanford was heading north on Cedar and ran a stop sign at Mt. Whitney.

According to a news release, Engen drove into the path of a 2016 Honda Accord that was westbound on Mt. Whitney. The Honda driver was identified by the CHP as Leticia Cardona, 40, of Laton.

Officers said neither driver had a chance to take evasive action. Cardona’s Honda struck the Lexus broadside on the passenger side, and the impact carried both vehicles through the chain-link fence of a nearby property into a lot at the northwest corner of the intersection. The Lexus rolled several times before coming to rest on its wheels at least 150 feet away from the impact.

Marissa Cardona was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two drivers both had major injuries and were taken by ambulance to Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno. Engen’s passenger, her 15-year-old daughter whose name was not released, suffered what officers described as life-threatening injuries and was airlifted by helicopter to Community Regional Medical Center.

According to officers neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash.