8-month-old killed in Highway 89 crash

TRUCKEE -- A rollover accident on Highway 89 between Truckee and Tahoe City Sunday afternoon took the life of an 8-month-old girl.

Nora Beaudette was killed when the 1998 Nissan extended-cab pickup truck she was riding in rolled multiple times over an embankment adjacent to the northbound lanes near the Goose Meadows Campground, according to California Highway Patrol reports.

A preliminary investigation determined the driver, Nevada City resident Edouard Beaudette, 39, fell asleep at the wheel and drifted off the roadway. He was treated at Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee for minor injuries.

Passenger Heidi Obenoskey, 28, also of Nevada City, sustained major injuries in the crash and was taken to Tahoe Forest Hospital. She was riding in the back seat caring for the infant when the crash occurred. Obenoskey and the infant were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, investigators said.

Nora Beaudette was flown from the accident scene via Care Flight helicopter to Tahoe Forest Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

CHP spokesman Kirk Brommel said investigators have not determined whether criminal charges will be pursued in the case. "We don't know what is going to happen yet," he said Monday. "We are not going to comment on any charges until we get close with the investigation."

Brommel said toxicology tests for Edouard Beaudette were not immediately available, but will be part of the investigation.