Teodora Villalobos y Maria Peck fallecieron en un accidente por conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol en una estación de metro de North Hollywood.

Beloved Street Vendor Teodora Villalobos and Her Friend Maria Peck Among Three Women Killed Outside the North Hollywood Metro Station

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA (12 de noviembre, 2026) – A 57-year-old street vendor identified as Teodora Villalobos and a 73-year-old woman identified as Maria Peck were killed in a DUI accident outside the North Hollywood Metro Station.

Los Angeles County officials are saying that the crash occurred around 5:55 p.m. on Tuesday. Teodora Villalobos, Maria Peck, and other vendors and pedestrians were on the sidewalk near the station on Lankershim Boulevard during the evening rush hour when a minivan veered right, left the road, and struck them, according to CNN.

Police said the 61-year-old driver was traveling at an unsafe speed. First responders were called to the scene, where Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics pronounced Villalobos, Peck, and a third woman who has not been publicly identified dead, according to Patch.

Two other women, including the women’s friend Sylvia Figueroa, were hospitalized in critical condition. The driver was hospitalized with minor injuries and later arrested on suspicion of DUI and three counts of murder, and he is being held on more than $6 million bail.

Formal charges had not been announced as of Wednesday evening.

Relatives described Villalobos, a longtime food seller at the station, as hardworking and generous, often giving food to people who could not afford to pay, according to ABC7. Family, friends, and neighbors gathered Wednesday night for a vigil, leaving flowers, candles, and photographs along Lankershim Boulevard.

A GoFundMe Se ha organizado un fondo de ayuda para apoyar a las familias de las víctimas con el concejal Adrin Nazarian y la organización sin fines de lucro ICON CDC.

Villalobos and other vendors had worked at the corner of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards for years, according to a Daily Sundial profile of vendors at the station. As sidewalk vending becomes a lawful, everyday part of transit hubs, questions arise about whether cities and transit agencies should design these spaces with barriers that protect vendors and riders from errant vehicles.

Liability for North Hollywood Pedestrian Accidents

California law addresses impaired driving deaths through both criminal and civil accountability. Código Penal sección 191.5 defines gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated as an unlawful killing without malice by a driver violating DUI laws, and the offense carries a state prison sentence. Prosecutors may pursue murder charges instead when evidence shows a driver acted with implied malice. On the civil side, Artículo 1714 del Código Civil hace que todos sean responsables de las lesiones causadas por falta de cuidado ordinario, y Código de Procedimiento Civil, artículo 377.60 allows surviving spouses, children, and certain other family members to bring a wrongful death claim. Several factors commonly shape responsibility in a fatal DUI case:

• Intoxicación: Blood alcohol or drug test results help establish whether a driver was impaired.
• Conocimiento: Prior DUI arrests, convictions, or court-ordered education programs can show a driver understood the dangers of impaired driving.
• Driving pattern: Excessive speed and leaving the roadway may demonstrate a conscious disregard for human life.
• Testigos: People who saw a driver before or during a crash can describe signs of impairment.
• Diseño del sitio: The absence of barriers between busy sidewalks and traffic may raise questions for property owners and public agencies.

La decisión de la Corte Suprema de California en La gente contra Watson (1981) remains the leading case on when an impaired driver can face murder charges. The case arose after a driver who had consumed large quantities of beer at a Redding bar drove at high speed on city streets and caused a collision that killed two people. The court held that a driver who kills someone while intoxicated may be charged with second degree murder when the circumstances show implied malice, meaning the driver knew the conduct endangered life and acted with conscious disregard for it. Prosecutions under this theory are now commonly known as Watson murders, and the principle shapes how the most serious impaired driving deaths are charged. For families, the decision affirms that the law treats the choice to drive impaired as a grave act with grave consequences.

Protecting People on Sidewalks and at Transit Hubs

Impaired driving threatens not only people in vehicles but also those on foot. According to NHTSA, 12,429 people died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in 2023, including 1,384 pedestrians, bicyclists, and other nonoccupants. Those crashes accounted for 30% of all traffic deaths in the United States that year. Places where people gather beside traffic, such as transit stations and vending corridors, can turn a single loss of control into a mass-casualty event. Communities have several tools to reduce that risk:

• Bolardos: Crash-rated posts can stop or slow a vehicle before it reaches people on a sidewalk or plaza.
• Extensiones de bordillo: Wider sidewalks and curb bump-outs create more distance between pedestrians and moving traffic.
• Vending zones: Designated vending areas set back from the curb can give vendors and customers a safer place to gather.
• Gestión de la velocidad: Lower speed limits and traffic-calming designs reduce the force of a crash when a driver loses control.
• DUI enforcement: Sobriety checkpoints and patrols near busy evening corridors help keep impaired drivers off the road.

Street vending and transit ridership bring life to neighborhoods, and the people who make those spaces vibrant deserve protection. Public agencies and property owners can study where crowds gather and invest in physical barriers before tragedy strikes. Accountability after a fatal crash also sends a clear message about the consequences of impaired driving. Families who lose loved ones have the right to a full account of what happened and to pursue justice against those responsible.

Investigating Pedestrian Accidents in North Hollywood

Nosotros, en Ley Feher offer our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of Teodora Villalobos and Maria Peck. We also mourn the third woman who lost her life, and we hope this tragedy leads to accountability and lasting protections for the vendors and riders who gather outside the station. This crash raises serious safety concerns about the crowded sidewalks surrounding one of the San Fernando Valley’s busiest transit hubs. Could physical barriers along Lankershim Boulevard have kept a vehicle from reaching the people gathered there?

Have you or a loved one been affected by a DUI or pedestrian accident in North Hollywood or elsewhere in Los Angeles County? Families who lose someone to an impaired driver are entitled to a full and honest account of what happened, and the law gives them tools to pursue it. Criminal cases can move slowly, and several parties, from the driver to the agencies that manage the sidewalks, may each offer a different version of events. Our team of safety advocates and accident investigators can help you understand what happened, from Metro station cameras and business surveillance footage to sidewalk design records and witness accounts. Whatever questions you have about your rights, our team is here for you anytime at (424) 433-4412.