San Diego mother sues daughter after alleged drunk driving accident that caused electrical fire – NBC 7 San Diego

A San Diego mother is suing San Diego Gas & Electric, the City and County of San Diego and Caltrans after her daughter was killed last summer when a driver suspected of being drunk struck a fuse box.

The family’s attorney told NBC7 that V’Ctorea Sanders was in the back seat of the car when her friend crashed into electrical boxes on Euclid Avenue. Sanders tried to push the car off the boxes, causing a jolt of hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity to shoot through her body and set her on fire.

A few hours after the crash, Sanders’ mother, Angela Turner, found a card on her door telling her to call the county.

“I wonder what that’s for,” Turner wondered. “You know, it didn’t say ‘coroner’ or anything like that.”

Although she had no clues as to what had happened, she knew something was wrong and began searching the Internet.

“I saw something and it just said ‘person electrocuted,'” she said. “I just had this sinking feeling in my stomach.”

She drove to the crash site described in the article and found SDG&E teams still working there.

“As I was standing there, the Spirit of the Lord said, ‘This is their resting place,'” Turner said. “Then there was a gentleman standing there… He came back and said, ‘Didn’t anyone call you?’ And I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘How did you get up here?’ I said, ‘The Spirit of the Lord sent me here.’ And he said, ‘Wow.'”

Turner said she doesn’t know how long it would have taken her to find out about her daughter if she hadn’t gone there herself.

“After I got off the phone with them, I just screamed,” Turner said. “I just screamed. That’s all I could do.”

She is suing the agencies for, among other things, negligence and placing the boxes in dangerous locations.

“I was speechless,” said Turner’s attorney, Dante Pride. “I mean, it should never be possible for a citizen to come into contact with that much electricity… hundreds of thousands of volts.”

The fire left Sanders’ body unrecognizable and Pride said her death could have been avoided.

Turner worked for SDG&E for 20 years.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve sued them, and it won’t be the last,” Turner said. “But what I don’t like is that I have to sue you because you’re putting my child’s life at risk.”

She wants safety barriers to be erected around every electrical box in the district.

She also wants the alleged drunk driver to be held accountable and that her daughter’s death was not in vain.

“As long as I’m on this earth, I have to fight to get justice for her,” Turner said. “I realize that’s all I’ve done so far. And I’m on the battlefield.”

NBC 7 has asked all four agencies being sued for comment. The city has not yet responded.

SDG&E said: “This was a tragic accident and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time. We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

The county and Caltrans also declined to comment on the lawsuit.