GUILTY CA - Three 13yo girls killed in hit & run, Santa Ana, 31 Oct 2014

kimi_SFC

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2011
Messages
10,253
Reaction score
141
LA Times reports a tragic story that happened last night:

13-year-old twins among 3 dead in Santa Ana Halloween hit-and-run - LA Times

Three 13-year-old girls, two of whom were twins, were killed by a hit-and-run driver Friday evening while they were trick-or-treating in Santa Ana, police said.
The three were struck about 6:45 p.m. by a driver "going at a high rate of speed" westbound while they were in a crosswalk in the area of Old Grand Street and Fairhaven Avenue, directly in front of Fairhaven Elementary School, said Anthony Bertagna, a spokesman for the Santa Ana police.

All three girls were declared dead at the scene, said Orange County Fire Capt. Steve Concialdi.

The third girl was a friend of the twin sisters, Bertagna said.



Embedded KTLA VIDEO & More@Link

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-three-children-killed-20141031-story.html

As more details come to light, I pray whoever committed this heinous crime will be brought to justice. These precious girls should have made it home safely. The driver is a coward. The morning news is reporting passengers in the car. Someone knows something, and people need to speak up! To leave three girls dead in the street is about as low as it gets. :cow:

:rose: :rose: :rose:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
UPDATE: Police seek video footage in hit and run of 3 teen girls killed while trick or treating - The Orange County Register

Latest: Police have traced the SUV to the address where it was registered but the owner has since moved, authorities say. Police are not sure if the owner of the SUV was behind the wheel when the vehicle struck the girls.

SANTA ANA – Three teenage trick-or-treaters, two of them twins, were struck and killed in a hit-and-run Friday night in Santa Ana.

Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas said police located a Honda CR-V believed to be the vehicle involved in the incident, parked in a shopping center near a Del Taco about 800 yards north of the accident scene. Damage to the car was consistent with a hit-and-run, Rojas said.

As of late Friday, police were actively searching for the male driver and a male passenger, he said.


The accident occurred about 6:45 p.m. near the intersection of North Jacaranda Street and Fairhaven Avenue, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

Dressed in costumes and carrying candy bags, the three girls, all 13, were crossing north to south in a crosswalk on Fairhaven when they were struck by a car traveling west at a high rate of speed, said Corp. Anthony Bertanga of the Santa Ana Police Department. The car then sped off, he said.

The girls died at the scene, Bertanga said.

JE (redacted), who was trick-or-treating with his 8-year-old daughter a half-block away from the accident, said he heard squealing tires, looked over and saw the accident.

“When we got over here, there was already a tarp over two girls,” JE said.

(snip)

As police continued their investigation, a single lighted candle was placed on a utility box on Fairhaven Avenue, behind yellow crime scene tape.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Santa Ana Police at 714-245-8665.



Embedded video & More@Link

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/accident-640530-children-information.html



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Police are searching for two men in connection with last night's hit and run. The mechanism of injury was tremendous. :(

(snip)

A search was underway Saturday for two men in connection with a hit-and-run in Santa Ana on Halloween night that left three costumed 13-year-old girls who were trick-or-treating dead, authorities said.

Erin Myer's report via KTLA Morning News (embedded video) and More@Link:

http://ktla.com/2014/11/01/3-girls-...g-in-santa-ana-were-thrown-100-feet-2-sought/

:tears:

May the investigation lead LE to these two, anyone who is complicit, or anyone who is aiding and abetting, quickly. The families and loved ones and classmates of these precious girls are in agony! They are living a nightmare, and it's only beginning.

They must have justice.

:judge:

I can only offer my deepest condolences, as a parent of daughters - their loss embodies my worst fears; as a concerned citizen who knows just how unsafe it can be on the city streets trying to get your kids to and from school on an average day; as a human being who empathizes with sudden and tragic loss; and as a :websleuther: who is thoroughly and completely incensed at the absolute needless and senseless tragedy this is....

:praying:

:candle:



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Heartbreaking. I can't imagine the pain their families are going through. Halloween is a children's holiday, they were probably setting out so excited. And it just ended in horror. What a coward that driver is.
 
2 Men Ditch SUV After Hitting, Killing 3 13-Year-Old Girls Trick-or-Treating in Santa Ana | KTLA

http://ktla.com/2014/10/31/2-children-killed-1-injured-possibly-when-struck-by-car-in-santa-ana/

----

The embedded video within this link brought me to tears. Friends of these girls were interviewed at the scene, and the repercussions of their loss takes my breath away. Imagine seeing your friends at school earlier in the day, then you're at the scene of their violent deaths just hours later. For a child, that is beyond life changing. Heck, an adult may not ever recover from that! :no:

I hope the men that were in the CR-V are caught, prosecuted, and given the max! :cow: :moo:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Santa Ana trick-or-treaters killed in hit-and-run identified | abc7.com

Two of the victims were twins. They were identified as Lexi Perez Huerta and Lexandra Perez Huerta.

86712ab745833cb9164194abe3015e10.jpg

(Image from article)

The third victim was identified as Andrea Gonzalez.

(snip)

Santa Ana police were searching for two male suspects. Authorities were also seeking video-surveillance footage from nearby property owners while interviewing witnesses. Investigators collected evidence from the SUV, including fingerprints and DNA samples, he said.

MH (redacted), the twins' aunt, says her family is in complete shock.


Embedded video and More@Link
http://abc7.com/news/santa-ana-trick-or-treaters-killed-in-hit-and-run-identified/376801/

:rose: :rose: :rose:

:candle:



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Heartbreaking. I can't imagine the pain their families are going through. Halloween is a children's holiday, they were probably setting out so excited. And it just ended in horror. What a coward that driver is.

ITA on every point you made Kaliste. :heartluv:

Not only the driver, what about his passenger? LE is searching for two males at this time. What could the driver have over him that would keep him from lawyering up, turning himself in, and making a deal ASAP?!
:thinking:

The longer he waits, the worse it looks for him. :cow: :moo: They left these beautiful girls, all of whom are daughters, granddaughters, nieces, classmates - and more than anything treasured and loved - broken and shattered in the street after the mechanism hurtled them over 100 feet!

Lord forgive me for being so cruelly descriptive, but it has been described over and over in the media reports, and it's the TRUTH! They disrespected those children in the worst way, left them for dead, and fled the scene in order to protect themselves.

The best thing the passenger can do is to turn himself in and hope the Court shows him mercy. I've had family members who have had direct interactions with this jurisdiction. It is by no means a guarantee. The longer he waits, the slimmer his odds. :moo:

And IMO (purely speculative), it gives the appearance of a criminal element that he / they haven't turned themselves in yet. Hit and run, initially, can occur out of fight or flight, (possibly). But to run like this and not turn yourself in (assuming this isn't in the works), leads the Court of Public Opinion to think other things of you. :notgood:

Just read the commentary on the stories about this case. They can be brutal. It is par for the course in the OC on certain stories, iykwim. It happened with the case of Kim Pham as well. It simmers just underneath the surface, just waiting to boil over, when conditions are... ideal. :cow:

I am awaiting the announcement that good old fashioned police work has ensnared these perps- all in due time. If they don't do the right thing, step up and make themselves accountable before they are brought to justice - by investigators. Either way, their days of freedom are numbered.

:twocents:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OMG - the force/speed it must have taken to have killed ALL THREE GIRLS INSTANTLY. all 3 gone in an instant. no words.
 
New details expected in Halloween hit-and-run that killed 3 Santa Ana teens
Josie Huang 6 hours ago

Just hours before a Sunday night vigil drew about 100 mourners, police announced they had arrested multiple suspects in the Halloween night hit-and-run crash that killed three teenagers in Orange County.

Santa Ana police plan a press conference Monday at 11 a.m. to discuss details of the arrests. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido told NBC4 Sunday evening that five people were arrested, but he did not know their names.

Audio from KPCC:
http://media.scpr.org/audio/upload/2014/11/03/Santa_Ana_hit-and-run_mix-9b372138.mp3

More@Link:

http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/11/03/47807/family-relieved-after-arrests-in-hit-and-run-that/
 
Santa Ana Police Discuss Arrests In Deadly Halloween Hit-And-Run
November 3, 2014 11:21 AM

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Police Monday held a news conference regarding arrests made in connection with a Halloween hit-and-run that killed three teens.
Police responded around 6:45 p.m. Friday to 1400 East Fairhaven Avenue in front of Easthaven Elementary School in Santa Ana, according to Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas.
When officers arrived they discovered three teens, twin sisters — Lexi and Lexandra Perez — and friend Andrea Gonzalez, all 13 years old, were struck and killed while trick-or-treating.
“They were walking northbound in the crosswalk — which is a marked crosswalk,” Rojas said.
A damaged black 2001 Honda SUV was found a short distance from where the collision occurred.
“We had numerous witnesses that were able to give us good information and good leads for our investigators to follow, so we immediately started an around-the-clock investigation,” Rojas said.


The investigation, which was assisted by multiple agencies, led officials to a motel in Stanton where they took Jaquinn Bell and two other adults into custody. Two minors were also taken into protected custody at that time, according to officials.

“As we continued our investigation, we released the two adults and two children who were in our protected custody to a legal guardian, and we booked Mr. Joaquin Bell, age 31, for hit-and-run and felony causing death,” Rojas said.
Police believe Bell was driving the Honda with his two children at the time of the incident.


More@Link

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014...ls-in-arrests-of-deadly-hit-and-run-suspects/
 
So, so, so happy arrests have been made. Watching the news this morning they showed the car and what little I could see (it had been mostly covered with a yellow tarp) was gruesome.

The anchor covering the story said their memorial covered with flowers and candles and toys was the largest he had ever seen and that donations have been pouring in to help the victims families.
 
Additional charges should be filed against Mr. Bell for Felony Child Endangerment (times TWO), reckless driving, and I'll get back to you on what else I can come up with after I calm down. He murdered those three girls (JMO), left them for dead on the street, in front of his own children!

Not only did he destroy the families of those girls, think of the trauma he's inflicted on his own kids! In what universe is this a fatherly instinct to protect? Why were his children more important than the ones he hurt/killed? They weren't! I am unwilling to accept any excuse that he may give that was "panicked or in shock." When you are out on the road, you are responsible, as a driver, for yielding to pedestrians, and for the safety of your passengers. Mr. Bell did NONE of these things. He was murderously negligent IMO.

IMO he showed his children that he was more important. He thought he could run, but LE proved that he could not hide. I'm deeply angered and saddened that he made so many awful choices on Halloween evening, and afterwards. It's far too late to take any of them back. What he can do - now - is start taking some real responsibility. He can't run anymore. I can only hope we don't see a not guilty plea. I know, I am fully dreaming here.

The adjudication process will play itself out, and as it does, it will take time before justice is served. However, when all is said and done, they need to throw the book at this guy. He needs to be put under the jail. He extinguished the light of three beautiful souls. Nothing less than the max will do. His cowardice must be taken into consideration as well. The City of Santa Ana is NO JOKE! :cow: I hope his running was worth it. Because he is toast. :steamed: :furious:

:copcar::busted::behindbar::judge::jail:
 
The KPCC story has been updated:

Police ID suspect in Halloween hit-and-run that killed 3 Santa Ana teens
Josie Huang 24 minutes ago

(snip)

11:49 a.m.: Police ID suspect

Santa Ana police have identified a suspect in the hit-and-run deaths of three teenage girls on Halloween night.

Jaquinn Ramone Bell was arrested at a motel in Stanton, where he was taken into custody with two other adults and two teenage children, 17 and 14 years old, Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas said at a news conference Monday morning.

The two other adults and children were released. Bell was booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run causing death, Rojas said.

Police did not offer many other details, citing an ongoing investigation, but did say that Bell was driving a vehicle registered to someone else he knew.


via http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/11/03/47807/family-relieved-after-arrests-in-hit-and-run-that/

The passengers weren't as young as I thought. :sigh: One was only a year older than the victims. The other was just shy of adulthood, and very fortunate for that, JMO. Again, because Mr. Bell is their father, and they are minors, it was his duty to do the right thing, which was to pull over and check on the girls he hit and killed! Instead, he chose to run away! ETA: I now feel less sorry for the passengers - because a 14 and 17 year old don't sit in carseats or booster seats - they're old enough to know right from wrong.

I can't even imagine the turmoil in that car, especially for the youngest passenger. I pray with all my heart that the youngest in the car knew that leaving the scene was wrong. They had to know that..... right? :cry:
 
it just gets worse with each new detail. this is so tragic and heartbreaking.
 
Suspect in Halloween hit-and-run deaths had violated probation 7 times - LA Times
31-year-old man arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run driving in the Halloween collision in Santa Ana that left three girls dead has a years-long criminal history and was driving on a suspended license, court records show.

(snip)

He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Court records in Orange County Superior Court show that Bell was convicted of hit-and-run driving and driving under the influence in August.


He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, ordered to serve three years of probation and enroll in both an alcohol abuse and child abuse treatment program, court records show.
(snip)

Police said they initially detained Bell's mother and half-sister as well as his two children in connection with the incident but subsequently released everyone but Bell.Police said they are attempting to determine whether Bell was driving under the influence at the time of the Friday night incident.

MuchMore@Link
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-halloween-hitandrun-deaths-3-girls-20141103-story.html


-----

I just spoke with my cousin, who works in parking enforcement in Little Saigon. He saw a news story on KCAL9 and relayed an image of the CR-V that was just broadcast. The mechanism was so incredibly strong, with extensive front end damage and all airbags deployed. There is NO WAY the passengers and driver did not know what happened to those three girls!

:furious:

They all deserved to be :busted: and quite frankly, I don't have much pity for the adults who CHOSE to leave those precious girls broken, bleeding, dying, in the street.

How. Dare. They? He ran. Why did they all run?

I. Just. Can't. If he was so abusive, (which I do not doubt) - LE was their best chance at that moment. Now they are all perps (the adults at least, based on what we know so far).

It keeps getting worse, and I didn't think that was possible.

My Aunt used to live literally around the corner from here.

I will forever associate this location, and Halloween, with this case.

:cry:


:rose: :rose: :rose:




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Witnesses, Surveillance Lead Police to Arrest in Fatal Halloween Hit-and-Run | NBC Southern California

(snip)

After leads brought police to the Stanton Motel 6, a surveillance team discovered Bell was staying there. He was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run causing death.

"He did not attempt to stop or render aid to the children that he hit," Rojas said. "There's no doubt in my mind that anybody who was driving in a vehicle that impacted three individuals in a crosswalk and had significant damage to the vehicle probably knew ... they hit something."

Pulido said Sunday that investigators worked around-the-clock to close the case.
"We've done a very strong effort, 24 hours nonstop, in order to find individuals that are associated, and we believe that one of them was the driver," Pulido said. "This is a street where cars can go fast, it's just the nature of the street. So we're going to see what we can do to make it safer."

----

Three separate embedded videos, including a heart wrenching interview with the mother of the twins. :tears: can be found at this link:

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...Lexandra-Perez-Andrea-Gonzalez-281312131.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Five Arrests Made in Halloween Hit-and-Run That Killed Three Teen Girls, Mayor Says | NBC Southern California

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...nd-Run-That-Killed-Three-Girls-281238781.html

This was posted this morning, before 0900. Since then, the community continues to show support for the three girls. The last NBCLA link I posted up thread mentioned that more than $40K has been raised (that's another 10% in less than a day).

I shimmer of a silver lining amidst such horrific tragedy.

:(



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This breaks my heart. I looked at the picture of these children and they reminded me so much of a couple of students I've had (and adored).
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
113
Guests online
2,464
Total visitors
2,577

Forum statistics

Threads
590,015
Messages
17,929,018
Members
228,038
Latest member
shmoozie
Back
Top