The CHP has released the cause of a crash between a military Humvee and a civilian car that killed a Yucca Valley woman April 19. Investigators say that Juan Lira, 19, an active-duty Marine, was driving a Humvee in a military convoy eastbound on Highway 62 just east of Whitefeather Road at about at about 30-45 miles per hour when he fell asleep at the wheel. The heavy military vehicle drifted over the center line, into the westbound lane, where the front wheel of the Humvee struck the left side of a 2010 Ford driven by Kristen Thrawl, 26, of Yucca Valley. The impact caused both vehicles to end up on the shoulder of the north side of the highway; Thrawl’s car overturned, landing on its roof; the Humvee rolled over onto its right side. Kristen Thrawl sustained major head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene; Lira was not injured.
