Grammy-winning art director Ian Cuttler Sala, 43, has been identified as the passenger killed when the vehicle driven by actress Salma Hayek’s brother crashed on Sunday in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.
Sala, a New York resident, was in town with his parent who had arrived from Mexico this week, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles Police Department. Official said Sala died at the scene of the crash from blunt force trauma, though an official autopsy report has yet to be released.
On Sunday afternoon, Sami Hayek was driving a 2006 Ford GT eastbound on Sunset Boulevard when he lost control of the vehicle, veered onto westbound traffic and collided with a white Toyota truck.
The LAPD’s Lt. Andrew Neiman told the Los Angeles Times that investigators found no traces of alcohol or drugs but said that speed may have been a factor in the crash.
"There was a loss of control that sent him fishtailing," Neiman said on Tuesday afternoon. The investigation’s findings will be turned over to the district attorney’s office for review.
The accident left Hayek with several broken ribs and the driver of the pickup truck, 20-year-old Alvin Gomez, with a broken foot. Both were taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after the crash.
Sala was a high-profile photographer who won the Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Art Direction for the “Johnny Cash: The Legend” box set music package, according to his website. He was also nominated for his work on “Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings” and worked on visual campaigns for artists such as Ricky Martin, Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Marc Anthony and more.
On Tuesday, Beyoncé remembered the art director with a Facebook post:
Los Angeles Coroner’s Lt. Fred Corral told People magazine that Sala was wearing a seatbelt when the car crashed.
Both HuffPost Voces and the Associated Press have unsuccessfully attempted to reach the Hayek family.
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