Last Updated on January 30, 2018 by CCAR Staff
Lauri Furry was getting ready to move back to California from South Carolina and was looking forward to seeing her children. In particular, she was excited to see her only son, Davidlee Furry, because he was ready to make a big announcement.
“He called and told me he had found the woman he wanted to marry,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday. “He was just so excited that he finally found the love of his life and we were going to meet today.”
But that meeting would not take place because on Saturday, while Lauri Furry was still packing, she received a call from one of her daughters, Desarai Furry, telling the mother of four that Davidlee and his girlfriend, Celeste Dominguez, were in an accident and neither survived.
“I never got to see my baby,” Lauri Furry said.
The 24-year-old Colton man, Dominguez, her 7-year-old son and other family members were watching the drift racers at the Adams Motorsports Park from Market Street near Via Cerra Saturday night in Jurupa Valley when they were stuck by a vehicle as they crossed the road to get to a bathroom, Lauri Furry said.
“They were hit from behind,” she said. “(Dominguez’s) little boy, Javi, he saw the whole thing. It’s just terrible.”
The driver then drove off before deputies or paramedics could arrive. Investigators described the vehicle as a dark-colored sedan that had been traveling north on Market Street.
Davidlee Furry and Dominguez died at the scene, according to Riverside County sheriff’s officials. A third person, only identified as a juvenile, was also struck and taken to an area hospital with minor injuries; the Furry family said the juvenile wasn’t Javi.
But even as the families of the young couple have come together to make somber arrangements for their children, the love they shared shines through.
“He would just light up when he talked about her,” said Lauri Furry. “And he loved her boys. He wanted to give them everything they could need or want.”
Dominguez’s younger son was not with the couple that Saturday night, the family said.
The loss of Davidlee Furry has left the family devastated. As the only male among a family of four girls, he was doted on by his sisters, the grieving mother said.
“He was so protected. They just loved their brother,” recalled Lauri Furry.
The families are joining investigators in asking anyone who may have seen anything that night or in the subsequent days to call sheriff’s officials at 951-776-1099.
“There were a lot of people out there so I’m sure someone has seen something,” Lauri Furry said. “Please help us put our hearts and minds to rest. Any normal person has to feel bad. You left two people to die right there. If you have any kind of heart, you’ll come forward.”
