Family mourns loss of single mom killed in PS crash

Twenty-three year old Ashley Van Buskirk of Yucca Valley was a single mom and a cancer survivor.

She died on Sunday after a head on collision on Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

The crash happened just before 3 p.m., a half mile north of Tramview Road.

Palm Springs police said a 2003 Acura Integra, driven by 50-year-old Desert Hot Springs resident Derryl Jones, was traveling northbound on Indian Canyon when he lost control of the car and crossed into the path of a 2012 Nissan Sentra traveling southbound on Indian Canyon.

Van Buskirk was driving the Sentra and she was killed in the crash. Jones also died at the scene, according to the coroner’s report.

Van Buskirk was taking care of her 3-year-old daughter and her 15-year-old brother in Yucca Valley. She was driving to work as a nurse when the accident happened.

Ashley’s sister Katelyn Van Buskirk got the call her sister had passed while in rehab for a methamphetamine addiction in Desert Hot Springs.

“They said we don’t know how to tell you this, and the girl is like just tell her, and I’m like what’s going on here, and the fact that my sister was dying was the furthest thing from my mind that could be wrong,” said Van Buskirk. “I found out about the car accident and then they told me she didn’t make it.”

Now Ashley Van Buskirk will never get to know her little niece or nephew due in a few months.

“She was the best person, one of the best people that I have ever known she was a great mom and a great aunt she was a great person,” said Elise Carpenter, Ashley’s best friend for eight years.

“She bent over backwards for absolutely everybody,” said Simeca Tucker, another one of Ashley’s close friends.

Ashley had been battling thyroid cancer for several years. Her family says she was beating the disease.

“She is a cancer survivor and many times she had to have radiation treatment and she couldn’t even be around her little baby she couldn’t be around anybody for that matter, she had two surgeries,” said Katelyn Van Buskirk.

The stretch of Indian Canyon south of I-10 can be dangerous with drivers going well above the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit.

“It’s rare when we have a fatal accident or an accident of any sort on that roadway, it is a straight roadway with two lanes in each direction and unfortunately with this tragic event the driver crossed over in the opposing lanes resulting in a very tragic collision,” said Lt. Mike Kovaleff with the Palm Springs Police Department.

Family and friends will be taking care of the Ashley’s daughter and brother.

KESQ tried to reach out to the family of Derryl Jones but we weren’t able to.

Ashley’s family is planning on having a memorial service in one of her favorite places, Joshua Tree National Park.

The Palm Springs Police Department is investigating the cause of the collision and more information is expected to be released soon.

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