A mother has died, and another rider was critically injured, after their spooked horses took them onto a busy California highway. According to KTLA, a car on SR-371 near Conteras Road crashed into the two horses shortly before 9:30 PM local time on August 31.
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Horse Gets Spooked And Runs Into Highway, Killing Rider And Mother Of 3
California Highway Patrol officers found the two female riders ejected after the crash in Anza, Riverside County. One, first responders pronounced dead at the scene, the other, they transferred to a local hospital with serious injuries, said a CHP spokesperson.
Investigators discovered that a group of friends and family was riding horses eastbound on the highway’s shoulder. For unknown reasons, presumably due to them getting spooked, two horses veered onto the road.
The sedan struck the horses while it drove westbound at a “reasonable rate of speed.” Luckily, this crash didn’t injure the driver of the vehicle, who was cooperating well with law enforcement.
In a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, they identified the dead victim as 47-year-old Monique Morton.
She was a mother of three and was an air force veteran, NBC Los Angeles confirmed. It also revealed the identity of the driver, who was a 70-year-old woman. As for the hospitalized individual, they were a 34-year-old woman from Temecula.
Mother’s Death Shakes Small Community
Although the police are still investigating this incident, they don’t suspect alcohol or drugs played a part. Still, this tragedy has shaken the small community of Anza. It’s an equestrian region consisting of around 3,000 people.
“It’s rocked the community. Nobody knows how to feel about it,” said Morton’s best friend, Monica Squires. “It’s sad when you see someone that you’ve known and full of life, now they are gone.”
Morton’s husband had also witnessed the accident as he was a few feet ahead of the group. “The horse spooked and didn’t want to go,” said Diane Sieker, a friend who spoke with the husband.
“They ended up in the middle of the road when the car approached. Monique tried to get her off the road and was hit by the car.”