Nadia Charles,Joseph Saint Juste Jr Obituary, Death; – Authorities have publicly disclosed the identities of eight individuals who lost their lives in traffic incidents in the San Diego area during the first five days of 2025, with four fatalities occurring on New Year’s Day.
The initial two fatalities on the road took place late in the morning of January 1, as reported by the county Medical Examiner’s Office. The victims, 20-year-old cousins Nadia Charles and Joseph Saint Juste Jr., were positioned on the southeast corner of Buena Vista Avenue and Broadway in Lemon Grove around 11:15 a.m. when an eastbound Acura sedan collided with a southbound Toyota at the intersection, veering off the road and striking them.
Saint Juste was pronounced dead at the scene, while Charles, who also resided with family in Lemon Grove, succumbed to her injuries shortly after arriving at a hospital.
A GoFundMe campaign has been initiated to support their family, accessible at www.gofundme.com/f/support-families-of-two-lost-in-tragic-dui.
“They were cherished members of the Haitian community, including the Haitian Refugee Community Center, and embodied promise, love, and vitality,” the statement on the page reads. “Both Nadia and Junior had endured catastrophic earthquakes, extreme poverty, severe violence, and political turmoil in Haiti.
“They traveled over 3,000 miles seeking safety in San Diego County, where their families labored diligently to secure a brighter future for them. Tragically, at the ages of 19 and 20, their lives were abruptly ended by a reckless and negligent driver.”
The subsequent fatal incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. on the same day, when a Hyundai sedan struck 45-year-old Marcos Perez Domingo while he was riding his bicycle at the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and Valley Park Way in Encinitas, according to the medical examiner.
Paramedics transported the critically injured resident of Encinitas to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, where he passed away two days later. Approximately thirty minutes after this tragic collision, 33-year-old Akash Kasibhatla, whose address remains unknown, was struck by a Toyota sedan while walking in the northbound lane.
