The crash happened around 12:30 p.m. Monday, September 7, 2026, near mile marker 300 on SR 260, and involved two vehicles, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Heber-Overgaard, AZ – Authorities have identified the four people who were killed in a head-on crash along State Route 260 near Heber-Overgaard on Labor Day, as well as the pickup truck driver suspected of causing the collision.
The DPS identified the victims as Giovanni Uballe Huerta, 26, of Laveen; Kiah Jae Begaye, 26, of Mesa; a 4-year-old boy from Mesa; and a 2-year-old boy from Mesa.
The crash happened around 12:30 p.m. Monday, September 7, 2026, near mile marker 300 on SR 260, and involved two vehicles, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
DPS said the four victims were traveling in a black vehicle. A 21-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy, both from New Mexico, were in the pickup truck and were hospitalized.
The pickup driver, identified as Jesse David Lovato, 21, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, was booked into the Navajo County Detention Center in Holbrook on four counts of manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault.
SR 260 was closed in both directions for several hours following the collision. Both sides of the highway reopened later Monday evening.
The crash remains under investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.