Add The California Post on Google A survivor of a horrifying ejection crash in Wrightwood that left four young people dead revealed what caused the tragic wreck — and her final words to the driver.
Naomi Potter, the 21-year-old sister of 19-year-old victim Jason Potter, told NBC Los Angeles her friend Nevaeh Harper had been unfamiliar with the manual-shift vehicle she drove that night.
Naomi said the group of friends — including 21-year-old Rebekah Cabral-Gonzalez, 19-year-old Cole Torres, and an unidentified sixth victim who was hospitalized — went out that night near Wrightwood.
A video she shared showed the group singing and smiling hours before the tragedy.
On the way back, Naomi said Harper was fiddling with the clutch or shift. Moments before the crash, she told Harper to “make sure” she had control of the vehicle.
That’s when Harper took a turn and went off the highway.
“She went to go turn because we were passing a turn,” Potter said. “I remember holding on and bracing.”
The car plunged off Highway 2 and slammed into a utility pole around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 4.
Officials had said none of the six passengers were wearing their seatbelts, but Naomi, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, said she was. Five of the six passengers were ejected from the vehicle.
Only Naomi and another passenger survived the crash. She said she escaped with relatively minor injuries.
“Physically, I have some fractured ribs and a severely bruised lung. Other than that, I have a seatbelt mark,” she said.
Police also ruled alcohol was a “contributing factor” in the crash.
Naomi knows how lucky she is to survive the crash, which left the car the group was traveling in a mangled mess.
“I feel like a walking miracle,” she said.
Her father, who lost his son Jason, said the crash was nothing short of a tragedy.
“This is a huge event that happened all at once. Six kids, six families, it’s [a] tragedy,” Naomi’s father, Jason Potter, said.
All of the deceased victims have fundraisers online to assist their families, including the Potters.
