Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyPHOENIX – Police have made an arrest in the deadly crash that claimed the lives of a toddler and two adults, and injured three others early Saturday.
Phoenix Police Det. James Holmes said Juan Loera, 20, has been booked into jail on three counts of manslaughter.
At about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Loera was apparently traveling eastbound on Lower Buckeye Road when his car struck an SUV turning left at 87th Avenue.
Holmes said witnesses told police they saw Loera driving at a high rate of speed before the crash.
The car hit the SUV broadside and a 3-year-old boy and his grandmother, Blanca Garcia, were ejected from the SUV and died at the scene, Holmes said.
He said the passenger in the car, 19-year-old Andres Chacon, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
The 33-year-old driver of the SUV, Laura Hernandez-Urbina, was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital with critical injuries.
Also injured in the SUV was Melky Munoz, 34, who was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Loera, the driver of the car, also received non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.
Holmes said police were able to determine that alcohol and/or drugs may also have been a contributing factor in the crash.
