Central California freeway crash kills 1-year-old boy. Driver and 3-year-old also injured

A Sacramento toddler was killed Thursday in a crash after the California Highway Patrol said a motorist failed to steer alongside a curve on an off-ramp near Interstate 5 in Central California, hitting a tree.

The crash also left the female driver and a 3-year-old male passenger hospitalized with injuries.

A 28-year-old Sacramento woman was driving south on Interstate 5, approaching the Coalinga Avenal rest area in a 2022 Kia Forte, the CHP said in a news release. She exited the highway but CHP investigators said she failed to negotiate the curve, careering into dirt and grass before the small SUV struck a tree.

Officers, who were alerted to the crash about 5:15 a.m., said a witness began to render CPR on a 1-year-old boy also in the vehicle. He was pronounced dead before reaching the hospital, the release said.

The Fresno County Coroner’s Office identified the boy as Amante Williams. He was three days short of turning 2, said Tony Botti, a spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

The driver suffered major injuries while the 3-year-old boy, also from Sacramento, suffered minor injuries, the release said.

Drugs and alcohol were ruled out as factors in the crash, the CHP said.

The investigation behind the crash’s cause was ongoing.