FELTON—The woman killed early Sunday morning in the Pogonip area of Santa Cruz when a tree toppled by high winds crushed her has been identified as Deseire Quintero of Santa Cruz.
High winds shoved the tree onto Quintero, 55, and a man, who suffered minor to moderate injuries.
She was an outspoken advocate for the homeless, especially at the recently closed Camp Ross homeless camp in Santa Cruz at Highway 1 at River Street. Quintero was the lead plaintiff in the dismissed civil rights lawsuit filed against the City of Santa Cruz that was seeking to stop the eviction of over 200 people from the camp.
Santa Cruz City Councilman Drew Glover on Facebook shared a letter from the President of the Santa Cruz Homeless Union, Alicia Kuhl, regarding Quintero’s death.
“I knew Dez for over 10 years, we shared meals, events, we had yard sales together, I could go on forever, she was my friend. My best friend,” the letter read. “She wants everyone to know that she loves them.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up on behalf of the Quintero family by the Santa Cruz organization Food Not Bombs, an all-volunteer program that shares free vegan meals, produce and baked goods with the community, according to their website.
“Desieire (sic) had been a firefighter and worked as a housekeeper but lost her home in Live Oak and found it difficult to find housing,” the GoFundMe page reads. “We are raising these funds to provide support for her son.”
Emergency officials initially had a hard time getting to the remote location when they were called around 8 a.m. Santa Cruz Police officers were the first to arrive on the scene, about 200 yards off the Rincon Trail, where they found an injured man and the unconscious Quintero lying partially under the fallen tree.
The officers administered CPR for about 20 minutes, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
A tent where Quintero was reportedly living was located near Paradise Park at the south end of Felton. The area is not a sanctioned campground.
The male adult victim suffered injuries to his hip and chest. He was taken to a trauma center in San Jose.
SCPD asks people who are using the park to stay on the main hiking trails and obey the signs of areas that are declared closed to the public.
