Children killed in accident identified

(La Porte County, IN) – Two children killed in a motor vehicle collision near Westville over the weekend have been identified.

LaPorte County Coroner Lynn Swanson said the victims were 11-year-old Alexander De Leon and his four-year-old sister, Luisa De Leon, who autopsies revealed died of trauma blunt force to the head.

La Porte County police said Luis De Leon Muniz, 41, was heading south in a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer pulling a U-Haul trailer when he ran a stop sign at Joliet Road and County Road 900 West Saturday, leading to the incident. Both drivers were transported to area hospitals with upper body injuries.

Swanson said the victims were De Leon Muniz's children.

Police said a 16-year-old girl in the Muniz vehicle was airlifted to an area hospital with an upper body injury. Norma Atempa, 36, mother of the deceased, who was also in the Muniz vehicle, was transported by ambulance also with an upper body injury.

Investigators are awaiting the results of a toxicology test to determine if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision.