Fundraiser to benefit families of children killed in Hwy. 1 crash

A fundraiser to benefit the families of Simon Brito and Mason Simmonds-Gibson, who died in a car crash near Cayucos on Oct. 25, will be held at Off the Hook restaurant in Morro Bay on Nov. 16.

The servers at the restaurant at 833 Embarcadero Road will donate their earnings from the hours they work between noon and 8 p.m. that day, including tips.

All of their profits will be donated the families of Brito, who was 17, and Simmonds-Gibson, who was 22 months old. The proceeds will help pay for their funerals.

They died in a crash on Highway 1 near Villa Creek Road, north of Cayucos.

The driver, Tanner Noah Mengore, 22, of Los Osos faces charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence. Two other passengers, Michael Brito and Wendi Brito, were seriously hurt in the wreck.

California Highway Patrol investigators say the Mengore was under the influence of “spice,” a legal chemically enhanced substance that often contains some of the same ingredients in marijuana.

This story was originally published November 6, 2014 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Fundraiser to benefit families of children killed in Hwy. 1 crash."