LOST DAUGHTER MOURNED DRIVER AWAITING SENTENCING IN DEADLY CRASH THAT KILLED WOMAN, 22.

Byline: Eric Leach Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Back in August, Trevor Clark and Tracy Fein were on their way to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada, an annual celebration in the middle of the desert where pretty much anything goes.

As they headed north on Highway 395 just south of Gardnerville, Nev., the Simi Valley couple's car inexplicably rolled over about 11:45 p.m. on Aug. 27. Clark, who was driving, told police he fell asleep. He had marijuana in his system, even though he said he hadn't smoked pot for 10 days, prosecutors said.

Fein, 22, wasn't wearing her seat belt, and when the car stopped rolling, she was dead. A picture from their digital camera showed them smoking what appeared to be pot, although it's unclear when the photo was taken. Police found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the wreckage.

Now, Clark, 23, who broke his shoulder and cut his neck in the crash, is facing between two and 20 years in prison after pleading no contest last month to driving with marijuana in his system and causing the fatal crash.

And when a judge sentences him Tuesday in Douglas County, Nev., Fein's parents will be there to keep their daughter's memory alive and provide a cautionary tale about driving under the influence.

``It's taken so lightly, it's pitiful,'' said Ligia Fein, Tracy's mother. ``People don't realize how much harm is done to the families, the communities, to life.''

In a written statement to Nevada authorities to convey the family's loss, she wrote that their lives are damaged forever.

``We can no longer enjoy life again as we knew it,'' she said. ``We are scarred for the rest of our lives. Birthdays and holidays can never be the same.''

She is faced with agonizing questions about her daughter's death: Did she suffer? How did it happen? Was she asleep? Why was she not wearing her seat belt?

Clark told investigators Fein refused to wear a seat belt because she was trying to sleep, and he said he believed he fell asleep at the wheel.

Clark's father, Greydon, called the crash a horrible accident.

``It's a terrible, terrible tragedy for all involved,'' he said. ``... Our hearts go out to Tracy and her family.''

Highway Patrol officials in Nevada and California said drivers have a responsibility to drive without being impaired, whether from alcohol, marijuana or just plain fatigue.

``Anytime you introduce an illegal substance into your body it is going to impair you,'' said Trooper Chuck Allen, a spokesman for the Nevada Highway Patrol. ``One doesn't have to have drugs or alcohol in their system to be impaired. Being tired or sleepy can be an impairment.''

Fein's parents moved to Simi Valley when she was 4 and were both working as nurses. She eventually followed in their footsteps, getting a job as a nurse last year.

As a child, she attended Township Elementary School near their home, was involved in Girl Scouts, ballet, gymnastics and art, and was a ``walking encyclopedia about all the natural wonders,'' her mother said.

``Disneyland was like her second home. She knew all the movies, their stories, their trivia and the lyrics to all the songs,'' her mother wrote in her victim-impact statement. ``She could really carry those tunes perfectly. She had a beautiful voice.''

She met Clark when they were students at Simi Valley High School, but her father, Steven Fein, didn't approve of their relationship and had her transferred to Apollo High School.

``I pulled her out of Simi Valley High to keep her away from him,'' he said.

Fein worked her way through nursing school in the box office at the Regal Cinema Center near City Hall. She recently went to Costa Rica with her father to attend a Spanish-language immersion institute, later telling him her newfound language skill ``was like a magic wand that she used as a nurse to turn patients' frowns into smiles.''

Steven Fein said he didn't hear anything about Clark for about five years after his daughter left Simi Valley High. Then, a few months prior to the crash, his daughter began dating him again and seemed less open and sharing with her parents.

Ligia Fein said she wishes it were all a nightmare, it seems so unreal.

``If this were a bad dream, then I could still wake up. But I can't,'' she said. ``Our baby is gone. Our gorgeous girl is gone.''

Eric Leach, [phone]

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Tracy Fein, 22, was not wearing a seat belt when the car she was traveling in overturned in Nevada.