Tarzana Woman, Unborn Baby Die in Crash

A pregnant 21-year-old Tarzana woman and her unborn daughter were killed in a traffic collision in Winnetka, and the man driving the car she was in faces possible gross vehicular manslaughter charges, police said Friday.

The crash happened at 5:25 p.m. Thursday on Corbin Avenue just south of Hart Street, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division, which is investigating the collision.

The woman, who was nine months pregnant, was identified as Sandra Elias, police said. She was a passenger in the front seat of a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix that was being driven south on Corbin by 33-year-old Daniel Magallanes, also of Tarzana, police said.

Magallanes was allegedly speeding, lost control of the car, crossed onto the northbound side of the road and collided with an oncoming 2011 BMW 328i, according to police, who reported that a parked vehicle was also damaged in the crash.

Elias and her unborn child were killed and the BMW driver was taken to a hospital, treated for minor injuries and released, police said.

Magallanes was taken into custody and was to be booked on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter, said an LAPD Valley Traffic Division officer.

• See KCAL9 video at the scene.

There is no evidence that alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, police said.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision was urged to contact Valley Traffic Division Officer Rhiannon Talley at (818) 644-8116 or Officer Danny Martinez at (818) 644-8032.

-- City News Service