Authorities Identify Driver Killed When Tree Fell on Car

A large eucalyptus tree fell onto a passing car on a Costa Mesa street Thursday, crushing the vehicle and killing the driver.

Emergency crews were dispatched about 2 p.m. to Irvine Avenue at Westcliff Drive, on the Newport Beach border. They found the tree on top of the car, trapping the motorist.

Authorities identified the driver as Haeyoon Miller, 29, of Tustin. She  was pronounced dead at the scene. Miller had previously had a Laguna Niguel address.

A helicopter was called to the scene to airlift Miller to a hospital, but she died before the helicopter arrived, said Jennifer Schulz of the Newport Beach Fire Department.

Miller had been southbound on Irvine Avenue, Costa Mesa police Lt. Bryan Glass said.

Glass said it had not been determined whether Miller's car hit the tree or if it just toppled onto the sedan. There was a minor earthquake in Newport Beach early Thursday, but there is no way to know if that contributed to the tree falling, Glass said.

A witness said that Miller was alive and talking to other witnesses at the scene while in the car under the tree, according to KABC.

"They were talking to her, communicating with her, she was still talking back about everything," she said. "She was okay, she was alive and breathing," KABC reported.