A routine Monday drive through northern Arizona turned tragic on State Route 260. Just a few miles west of Heber, a black passenger car carrying two adults and two small children collided head-on with a pickup truck. All four people inside the car died at the scene.
State troopers identified the adult victims as 26-year-old Giovanni Uballe Huerta of Laveen and 26-year-old Kiah Jae Begaye of Mesa. Also in the vehicle were two young kids from Mesa, ages four and two. None of them survived the heavy crash.
The wreck happened around 12:30 p.m. near milepost 300, close to Camp Shadow Pines. Emergency crews arrived to find heavy damage to both vehicles. The black car was completely wrecked along the shoulder of the highway.
Three people from New Mexico were traveling inside the pickup truck. Two passengers, a 14-year-old boy and a 21-year-old woman, suffered serious injuries. First responders called in medical helicopters to fly both of them to Phoenix-area hospitals.
The driver of the pickup, 21-year-old Jesse David Lovato of Los Lunas, New Mexico, was arrested right after the crash. Officers took him to the Navajo County Detention Center in Holbrook.
Lovato now faces four counts of manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault. Investigators with the Arizona Department of Public Safety Vehicular Crimes Unit are handling the case. They noted that impairment has not been ruled out.
Families in Laveen and Mesa are now left dealing with a sudden, devastating loss. Four lives were cut short in a matter of seconds on a quiet stretch of highway, leaving two local communities mourning.
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