DEATH STRIKES CHP OFFICER'S HOME; SUSPECT IN DAUGHTER'S TRAFFIC SLAYING FACING TRIAL.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

Lynette Nemback and her daughter Julie were driving back from a shopping trip in October with Julie's older sister when they saw a crash up ahead.

As the wife and daughter of a California Highway Patrol officer, Lynette and Julie had learned to avoid the scenes of traffic crashes, so as to let officials do their work.

They turned a corner to bypass the crash, went to Julie's home and called her sister, Erica, who had left the store in another car.

When the phone rang unanswered, they drove to Erica's house. Her car was gone, and they sensed she might have been involved in the crash.

They drove back. There was Erica's wrecked Honda Accord, and on the ground a body covered with a blanket.

``That's my daughter,'' Lynette Nemback told a sheriff's deputy. ``She gone.''

Lynette Nemback called her husband.

``I was more or less in shock,'' said Mike Nemback, a CHP officer for 25 years. ``You sit there and say it's not true. But there's nothing you can do. You feel so helpless.''

The other motorist, six-time convicted drunk driver Joel Kyne of Lancaster, was ordered last week to stand trial for second-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old schoolteacher Erica Nemback.

Officials said that Kyne, a 49-year-old carpenter, failed to stop for a stop sign at Avenue J and 60th Street West shortly after 8 p.m. Oct. 18. His pickup broadsided Erica Nemback's compact at more than 50 mph. She died instantly.

Kyne suffered a neck fracture and facial injuries and tested at a blood-alcohol level of .35 percent - more than four times the level allowed under California Law. He was jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The litter around the wrecked vehicles provided evidence of two very different lifestyles. Thrown from Kyne's truck were beer cans. From Erica Nemback's car came school papers and lessons from Bible school.

Sheriff's officials said Kyne is unmarried and lives with his mother. They said he had been drinking from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. the day of the crash at home and a bar.

Prosecutors initially filed felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two drunk driving charges but added the murder charge after an investigation found Kyne had six prior DUI convictions from the 1980s, the most recent in 1987.

Erica Nemback was a fourth-grade teacher at Cottonwood Elementary School. She served as a teacher mentor and was on the math committee.

``She had a heart for children,'' said Lynette Nemback.

The fatal crash occurred on the last class day of the trimester. Erica always gave her students the option of a ``high five,'' hand shake or hug to say goodbye.

``On her last day, every student gave her a hug,'' said her mother. ``She had made a connection. It was important for her to make that connection.''

At her church, Erica Nemback taught Sunday school and had worked toward getting a playground. During her funeral services, family members requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to fund a playground at the church.

About $15,000 was given.

``Sometimes it's through sadness that good things happen,'' said Mike Nemback. ``Erica would have been proud.''

Mike Nemback worked out of the Antelope Valley CHP office for years before transferring to the Santa Fe Springs office earlier this year.

Last year, Mike Nemback received an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for being one of two CHP officers who made the most number of DUI arrests within the Lancaster CHP patrol area.

``I never thought in my wildest dreams that something like this would hit so close to home,'' Mike Nemback said. ``It truly hurts. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.''

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PHOTO (AV edition only) Lynette and Mike Nemback hold a framed photograph of Erica.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News