Man Arrested In Halloween Hit-And-Run Deaths
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A 31-year-old man was arrested in the hit-and-run deaths of three teenage girls who had gone trick-or-treating on Halloween, authorities said Monday.
Jaquinn Bell of Orange was booked for investigation of felony hit-and-run causing death, Santa Ana police Chief Carlos Rojas told a press conference.
The chief said the Orange County district attorney's office was reviewing the case.
Authorities previously said they were looking for a driver and another person who fled the scene of Friday evening's crash that claimed the lives of 13-year-old twins and their 13-year-old friend at a crosswalk. A damaged black Honda SUV was found 800 yards from the crash site.
The police chief said, however, that Bell actually had two teenage children in the vehicle with him at the time.
The children and Bell's mother and half-sister, who were taken into custody with Bell when he was arrested at a motel, were later released, Rojas said.
The girls were struck as they crossed a street in a marked crosswalk. The vehicle that hit them made no attempt to stop, the chief said.
"He did not attempt to stop or render aid to the children he had hit," Rojas said.
Two of the girls were declared dead immediately, and the other died as paramedics prepared to take her to a hospital, said Orange County fire Capt. Steve Concialdi.
The twin sisters were Lexi and Lexandra Perez, and the third victim was Andrea Gonzalez, the Orange County Sheriff's Department said.
In Irvine, a 65-year-old man was killed and his 4-year-old son was injured Friday after a car struck them while they were trick-or-treating.
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