Family members mourn the loss of “vibrant” teen killed in suspected Santa Maria DUI crash

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office says 20-year-old Monica Gonzalez and 17-year-old Madison Coleman of Atascadero were killed in a suspected DUI crash early Saturday morning in Santa Maria.

Santa Maria Police confirm that there were four people inside the vehicle, including Madison and Monica. Along with the two fatalities, last confirmation from law enforcmeent indicates that the other two occupants are in critical condition.

As you can imagine, Madison Coleman’s family is beyond devastated by the tragedy. As her grandmother prepares to bury a life gone far too soon, she says Madison will always be with us.

“She was on the other girl’s lap and said ‘I love you’ and then she closed her eyes and didn’t wake up,” said Suzie VanBenthuysen, Madison’s Coleman’s grandmother.

Painful and powerful, this Atascadero grandmother shares what no matriarch should have to, her granddaughter, Madison Coleman’s last words.

“Madison, they drove up and it turned green so she started out and she looked both ways because she wanted to turn left the next thing they were flying down the street,” said VanBenthuysen.

The grieving grandma never thought she’d have to talk to somebody about something like this and questions just how fast 27-year-old Javier Cortes was going. She says the crash knocked the Jeep her granddaughter was in back a block and a half.

“He doesn’t know what he did, he doesn’t know the life he robbed from all of us because she was a great person,” said VanBenthuysen.

Madison was the type of person that always tried to help everyone.

Family members say they were excited to see what was next for this friendly and outgoing young woman.

“Oh, the family is falling apart they’re very upset about this,” said VanBenthuysen, the grief evident on her face.

Musically gifted, Madison had just tried out for America’s Got Talent and was looking forward to going to college, with aspirations to be a doctor.

“She was a good girl. She was finally coming into her own, she was going to be 18. She graduated from high school. She worked, she was always working, she was a pleasure to have they all said,” explains VanBenthuysen after hearing from her granddaughter’s employer after the accident.

Suzie says the 17-year-old was in Santa Maria Friday night to play basketball and have dinner with friends.

“She was just a good girl, she was always smiling, always smiling,” said VanBenthuysen, her face falls as she comes to terms with the fact that she’ll never see that smile again.

Smiles, that are now replaced with sorrow.

“Her mother, all she kept saying was ‘I tried to keep her safe, I try to keep my kids safe,'” said VanBenthuysen.

Madison’s family says the outpouring of support and kind words shared about the Atascadero teen from the community and across the country, helps as they grieve.

They also add that DUI’s are preventable and they want justice for ending her vibrant life.