A Californian teen who gained fame as an online gamer caused an 8-car pileup which killed a mother and daughter, and himself.
The teen, famous as YouTube personality “McSkillet,” drove the wrong way down Interstate 805 near Miramar Road in San Diego around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 23 and hit head-on into a Hyundai SUV containing a mother and her child.
#BREAKING 3 people are confirmed dead in what witnesses are calling a wrong-way crash on Northbound 805. pic.twitter.com/QeMX7NF6H2
— Kristen Shanahan (@k_shan7) August 24, 2018
The 18-year-old was driving a 2014 McLaren 650s, an expensive ultra-high-performance hypercar which costs a quarter of a million dollars.
“At the time of the crash, he could have been going over 100 mph,” CHP Officer Jake Sanchez told the San Diego Union. “The McLaren is one of the fastest cars in the world.”
The fiery collision killed all three, and also set off an eight-car chain-reaction collision which left one other injured.
#BREAKING: 8 cars were involved in an apparent wrong-way crash on northbound 805 Freeway that killed 2 people. All lanes closed on 805 NB in La Jolla area. https://t.co/eeR5dDGsxi
— FOX 5 San Diego (@fox5sandiego) August 24, 2018
The victims were Aileen Pizarro, 43, and her 12-year-old daughter Aryana Pizarro. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Hard-Working Mother, Talented Daughter
Aileen Pizarro worked as a family and marriage counselor, helping other families while supporting her own three children.
Aileen’s son, Dominic Pizarro, told CBS News that his mother was a “single mother that did her best.”
She had been out with her daughter that day buying back-to-school supplies.
Posted by Aileen Pizarro on Sunday, April 1, 2018
“She got off work and went to go pick up my little sister because they were going to get contacts for her. She [Aryana] was going to start school Monday,” Dominic told CBS.
Aryana was a talented singer who attended the Creative, Performing, and Media Arts School in San Diego.
Dominic said that he, Aryana, and their brother played music together, and performed as a musical group in the community.
Posted by Aileen Pizarro on Sunday, June 4, 2017
“My sister was going to be in the seventh grade. Along with me and my brother, we were musicians,” he explained.
“She would go out and spread her love for music. We would go perform at retirement centers.”
“She wanted to inspire other kids. She always was just about helping and giving back. She had the biggest heart in the world,” was how Dominic described his sister.
Now Dominic, his brother, and his grandfather have to raise funds to bury two family members. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise the needed funds.
Online Gamer With a Fast Car
Trevor Heitmann, 18, gained fame for his skill at playing a popular video game called Cournterstrike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
He was involved in bartering special “skins,” appearance-altering software, for weapons—players wanted the meanest-looking weapons and Heitmann provided.
His real source of income, however, seems to have been online gambling on video games on a site called CS:GO Magic. He was also selling skins for cash, which was not allowed. He was banned from online trading in February for his involvement in gambling, the Mirror reported.
Along with his terminated skin-selling business, Heitmann made money for corporations which sponsored him as a professional gamer. His YouTube channels had some 900,000 subscribers. Still, he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in income when he was banned, the Mirror reported.
#UPDATE: Former classmates say the 18-year-old driving a high-end sports car in the fatal I-805 pileup Thursday was the popular YouTube personality Trevor "McSkillet" Heitman, though officials have not confirmed his identity.https://t.co/E3UM6n5X00 pic.twitter.com/hCjfiieUie
— FOX 5 San Diego (@fox5sandiego) August 24, 2018
The Mirror also reported that the teen was suffering from mental issues, and that the accident might have been suicide.
In December, 2017, Heitmann posted a YouTube video in which he described his black McLaren 650S as a car which “beats just about every other supercar in a drag race.”
ABC News reported that according to California Highway Patrol, shortly before his fatal accident, Heitmann drove his car through a fence at Carmel Valley Elementary School, got out and broke a window in the empty building, then drove off.
A Carmel Valley woman who said she knew the Heitmanns told ABC News that Heitmann, a high-school dropout, was feeling lonely as his friends left for college.
She said Heitman had sent her son some irrational and semi-coherent messages a few weeks before the incident.
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