Hundreds of community members gathered Friday at the scene of a Temescal Valley crash that claimed the lives of three 16-year-old boys to pay their respects and mourn the loss of the young victims.
The boys, all 16, were riding in a Toyota Prius with three other teens when a man allegedly intentionally rammed their car, forcing them off the road and into a tree along Temescal Canyon Road on Jan. 19, according to the California Highway Patrol and the Riverside County prosecutors. They’ve been identified as Daniel Hawkins, Jacob Ivascu and Drake Ruiz.
Dezmon Nash was a friend and football teammate of Ruiz.
“It’ really hard to know I’ll never be able to talk to him again and just have his company,” he said.
Others who attended the vigil said they didn’t know the victims, but wanted to show their support, nonetheless.
The victims had rang the doorbell of a nearby home and fled as a prank, family said. They thought another teen lived at the home, but Anurag Chandra, 42, emerged from the home and chased the boys until allegedly triggering the deadly crash, officials said.
The 18-year-old driver of the Prius, as well as a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy survived the wreck, authorities said.
The Riverside Count District Attorney’s Office has since filed three counts of murder with special circumstances against Chandra, as well as six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of attempted murder, records show.
Chandra was being held without bail pending his next court appearance, scheduled Feb. 21 in Riverside County Superior Court.
