When Javier Lopez Montes had not arrived home by 7 p.m. — and did not answer his cellphone — two of his children went looking for him, thinking he was doing a side job.
He usually arrived before 5.
A location app showed the 48-year-old Hemet man was at a San Jacinto house on Jan. 20, a Monday, then his location changed.
But, hours earlier, the two son’s father had died, they would learn.
A man suspected of driving under the influence of a drug veered into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on with Lopez Montes’ Toyota Tacoma at State Street and Quandt Ranch Road at 4:24 p.m., according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Lopez Montes died there 22 minutes later.
“He was heading home when this happened,” said Jonathan Lopez, the victim’s oldest son.
The other driver, Darell James Leroy Davis, 34, of Moreno Valley was arrested on suspicion of murder. Davis, injured in the collision, has two unrelated pending DUI cases stemming from arrests last year, court records show.
The assigned deputy district attorney has reviewed the case and will not be filing charges at the present time because additional investigation results are pending, said Thalia Hayden, a spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
Davis was to be released from custody on Tuesday, Jan. 28, Hayden said.
Lopez Montes and his family used to live in Perris then moved to Hemet. They have been fixing and remodeling their home, which they got about four months ago.
Lopez Montes liked working, spending time with his family, watching television and heading to Costco. He left behind his wife, Araceli Sanchez Gutierrez, and his four children: Jonathan Lopez, Sebastian Lopez Sanchez, Allan Lopez Sanchez and Alexis Lopez Sanchez. There is a GoFundMe created to raise money for funeral expenses and other needs.
