Yuma County Sheriff investigates fatal single-vehicle crash on Avenue A

A 16-year-old Yuma girl died after a single-vehicle crash early Sunday on S. Avenue A, when a 2021 Kia Forte LXS left the roadway, struck an electrical pole, became airborne, rolled over twice and came to rest in an orchard.

The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded at about 4:11 a.m. in the 14500 block of S. Avenue A, near the Yuma Mounted Posse Grounds. Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department responders pronounced the driver dead at the scene. Sheriff’s investigators later identified the driver as a 16-year-old female from Yuma, Arizona, and said next-of-kin notification had been made.

Investigators said the car was traveling northbound on Avenue A when it veered off the roadway. The crash sequence left the vehicle badly compromised, with the impact sending it airborne before it rolled twice. YCSO said speed appears to have been a factor, and the case remains under investigation as detectives work to reconstruct the final moments before the collision.

The deadly wreck put a familiar local corridor back under scrutiny. S. Avenue A carries early-morning traffic through a part of Yuma County where drivers may be heading to work, traveling across town or coming and going from nearby events, making visibility and road conditions especially important in the hours before sunrise. When a crash happens in that window, the consequences can be immediate for families, first responders and anyone trying to move through the area while investigators secure the scene and sort out what happened.

YCSO asked anyone with information about the crash to call the agency at 928-783-4427, submit an anonymous tip through 78-CRIME or use the sheriff’s office anonymous tip website. In a case like this, witness accounts can help investigators fill in the details that are not always clear from the wreckage alone, including speed, lane position, lighting and whether anything else contributed to the crash.

The fatal collision adds another painful reminder of how quickly a routine drive can turn deadly on local roads, especially when speed becomes part of the equation.