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Family Mourns Mom, 2 Kids Killed In Wrong-Way Crash

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) - A family is mourning the death of a mother and her two sons after a car crash on Jackson Highway.

Police say the woman was driving with her sons early Monday morning when she crossed over into oncoming traffic. Friends and family came by the dozens to the crash site later that evening in shock, unable to understand how this could've happened.

"How can you grieve for a group of people who you cared for so much?" said Trinidad Hernandez, the victim's brother.

Renee Villalobos was a mother of six and loved her children more than anything.

"It's just a tragedy for my family right now, it really is," he said.

Around 3 a.m. on Monday, their lives came to a tragic end.

Villalobos was driving east on Jackson Road with her 11-year-old James in the passenger's seat and the baby Lorenzo in the back seat. The CHP says Villalobos drifted into the westbound lane and collided with a van head-on.

"She fell asleep at the wheel or something...I'm not really sure," he said.

Renee and her older son were not wearing a seat belt.

James was a student in Elk Grove and Lorenzo was one.

"I just miss her and my nephews, I can't believe they're gone," Hernandez said.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking of all, the four children now left without a mother.

Family members say Renee left the house early to pick up her daughter when something went terribly wrong.

The driver of the van suffered minor injuries.

A GoFund me page has been setup to help the family cover funeral expenses.

 

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