A Cuyama father has been charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of his young daughters in a violent vehicle crash as he allegedly drove under the influence of alcohol while speeding near Lompoc. 

The criminal case against Brian Hernandez Cervantes, 23, will return to the Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Monday morning for a further arraignment hearing after being continued Friday morning.

He is accused of killing his daughters in the crash, identified by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau as Stella Aliyah Hernandez, 3, and Luna Alani Hernandez, 7 months old.

A GoFundMe page, “Support for Stella and Luna’s Funeral Costs,” to help the pay funeral costs for the girls had raised more than $23,000 as of Friday afternoon. 

At 3:51 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Barbara County firefighters and California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to the incident in the area of Harris Grade and Rucker roads in the Lompoc Valley.

A California Highway Patrol officer attempted to stop a speeding sedan, but the driver went faster, traveling well above the speed limit.

The Infiniti’s driver fled north on Harris Grade Road, accelerating to high speeds and passing vehicles recklessly on the narrow two-lane road, the CHP said. 

Less than a minute later, the driver failed to negotiate a curve, slamming into an oak tree with enough force to tear the vehicle in half.

A CHP officer arrived at the scene moments after the impact to find that the 3-year-old girl and 7-month-old girl in the Infiniti were killed in the crash, the CHP added.

The Infiniti’s driver, Hernandez Cervantes, had moderate injuries. 

After the collision into the tree, the front portion of the vehicle slid down the hillside and the rear portion of the vehicle struck a southbound Toyota Equinox, whose driver was uninjured.

Both girls were in child safety seats, the CHP said. The incredible impact that sliced the vehicle in half meant one child still in her safety seat was ejected from the vehicle, leaving her with traumatic injures.

The CHP arrested Hernandez-Cervantes for suspicion of murder, child endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol, and reckless driving causing injury.

The CHP Coastal Division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, made up of experts in accident reconstruction, traffic engineering, and automotive engineering, has joined the complex investigation.

The defendant was not transported to court for Friday morning’s arraignment hearing in Santa Barbara for medical reasons.

The criminal complaint accuses Hernandez Cervantes of “willful murder in conscious disregard for human life.”

Deputy District Attorneys Nicholas Harmon and Michelle Mossembekker are leading the prosecution team.

Hernandez Cervantes is represented by defense attorney Michael Clayton.

Before this week’s incident, he received six citations including for speeding, driving while his license was revoked or suspended, and unsafe speed for conditions, according to Superior Court records.

In 2022, he was charged with reckless driving and pleaded no contest.

Hernandez Cervantes remained in jail custody with bail set at $2 million on Friday.