Mother, Girl Die After SUV Hits Their Car

A Port Hueneme woman and her 4-year-old daughter were killed when the woman’s station wagon collided with a sport utility vehicle near Camarillo early Thursday.

Georgina Karpowich, 26, was pronounced dead when California Highway Patrol officers arrived at the scene just before 6 a.m., CHP Sgt. Douglas Howell said.

Her daughter, Brittany, was rushed to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, where she died Thursday evening.

Also in the car was Karpowich’s son, Eric, 2. He was also taken to Cottage Hospital, where he is listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit.

The crash occurred about 5:45 a.m. at Las Posas Road and 5th Street, in an unincorporated area between Oxnard and Camarillo surrounded by industrial businesses and farmland.

A Ford Explorer was heading east on 5th Street when it broadsided Karpowich’s Ford Taurus station wagon, which was heading west on 5th Street and about to turn left onto Las Posas, CHP officials said.

The SUV overturned and the station wagon careened into an irrigation ditch. The Taurus’ passenger side was ripped open and its windshield was smashed.

Debris, including children’s toys and a small white shoe, was scattered around the crash site.

Karpowich, who CHP officers said was wearing a seat belt, died of several injuries, according to the Ventura County medical examiner’s office.

Both Brittany and Eric had been strapped into child-safety seats.

The driver of the SUV, 25-year-old Ruth Laupola of Oxnard, was not injured. Authorities are still trying to determine who was at fault and have not cited anyone, Howell said.

Officers closed the intersection for about four hours Thursday morning while investigating the crash.

Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to call the CHP at 477-4100.

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Times staff writer Tina Dirmann contributed to this report.