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64°F

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Wrong-way crash kills college student with bright future

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By Daily News | |

PUBLISHED: November 4, 2009 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 28, 2017 at 11:57 a.m.

Instead of late-night college parties, 19-year-old Taylor Moss preferred spending her weekends cooking pasta dinners for friends and family in Newbury Park, baby-sitting or visiting grandparents.

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The Moorpark College student planned to pursue her passion for service by becoming an elementary school teacher.

Her dreams were cut short early Sunday morning while driving home with friends from a Halloween party on the 101 Freeway. An alleged drunk driver heading in the wrong direction slammed into Moss’ car, leaving the teen fatally injured.

Her family took her off life support early Wednesday, but even in her final moments, Moss was able to give to others – saving at least three lives with the organs she donated on her own initiative.

“She has already touched three lives … that brings me some comfort,” said Dean Moss, Taylor’s father, holding back tears.

“That’s the kind of person she was from day one – always helping someone else.”

Leaving her house on Halloween night in a teacher’s costume, Moss and two of her friends decided to spend the evening at a dance club in Hollywood.

It was on the way home, as Moss and her girlfriends giggled about the cute boys they’d met that night, that the teen’s 1997 Gray Toyota Corolla spun out of control after being struck head-on by a 2008 red Camry on the northbound 101 Freeway.

“The last thing I remember was her laugh … then all I remember is the spinning and the screaming. Then the airbag hit my face. .. it felt like fire,” said Jackie Nelson, 19, Moss’ best friend who was one of two passengers in the car during the accident.

Hector J. Ortiz, 27, of Simi Valley was arrested at the scene Sunday morning on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A total of four cars were involved in the crash.

Ortiz was released on bail Tuesday and is expected back in court on Nov. 23 in Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys.

Nelson, who broke her arm and had shattered glass in her eye, immediately cried out to her friends.

The third passenger in Moss’ car responded she was fine. She later realized she had a broken clavicle.

Nelson found Moss lying across the back seat of the car, breathing, but motionless.

Moss was immediately taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center early Sunday morning, where she was placed on life support.

“As a mother, these have been the most agonizing days of my life by far,” said Jacqueline Moss, 49, a respiratory therapist.

“I just feel certain now that she is with God … I just feel blessed to have been able to be her mother for 19 years. … We are all so lucky to have had her in our lives.”

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, one person is killed every 45 minutes by a drunk driver. Last year, it is estimated that 11,773 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes.

“Impaired drivers cause more deaths than all the handguns and knives combined across the United States,” said Tina Pasco, executive director of the Los Angeles branch of MADD.

“It takes more of our youth than any parent or society should have to suffer … And the loss of every young life, including this 19-year-old, robs each of us of the potential that life could have had and could have given to our society.”

Moss was determined to give back to her community after graduating from Newbury Park High School last year.

An avid music lover, she was a fan of Jewel, Faith Hill and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And she was industrious – working as a baby sitter since she was 13 and paying her way through college with a part-time job at Build-a-Bear Workshop in Thousand Oaks.

Still, what most remember about the wide-eyed teen was her uncanny ability to brighten a room with her smile and cheer up a downtrodden loved one.

“She had the sweetest laugh that filled a room,” said Christopher Moss, Taylor’s younger brother. “She always put everyone before her, and we will never forget her.”

A memorial fund has been established in Taylor Moss’ name at Bank of America. Checks can be sent to Taylor Moss Memorial Fund c/o Pamela Zegers, 2735 Kelly Knoll Lane, Newbury Park CA 91320.

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