A man who killed three teenage boys in Riverside County after they played a doorbell-ringing prank on him in 2020 was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
Anurag Chandra, 45, from Corona, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole after he was convicted by a jury in April of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
The deadly crash happened on Jan. 19, 2020, as six teenage boys were having a sleepover that night. One of the boys was given a dare to approach Chandra’s home on Modjeska Summit Road.
After ringing Chandra’s doorbell, the teens quickly drove away in a 2002 Toyota Prius.
Chandra chased down the six teens in his 2019 Infiniti Q50 and eventually caught up with them on Temescal Canyon Road near Squaw Mountain Road.
Chandra rear-ended and sideswiped their vehicle until they were forced off the road before slamming into a tree. Chandra had reached speeds of 99 miles per hour at the time, officials said.
Emergency crews respond to a fatal crash in Temescal Valley on Jan. 20, 2019. (Credit: KTLA) 
A heavily damaged Infiniti Q45 is parked near a residence where authorities arrested a Corona man believed to be responsible in a crash that left three dead on Jan. 19, 2020. (Credit Loudlabs) 
FILE – An officer with the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) investigates the scene of a deadly crash in the Temescal Valley, south of Corona, Calif., Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. A jury found a Southern California man guilty Friday, April 28, 2023, in the killings of three teenage boys after they played a doorbell-ringing prank on him in 2020. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP, File) 
A Toyota Prius plowed into a tree in Temescal Valley after Anurag Chandra, right, allegedly intended to strike it in a deadly crash on Jan. 20, 2020. (Credit: Loudlabs, California Highway Patrol) 
Anurag Chandra, 45, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 14, 2023 for killing three teenage boys after they played a doorbell-ringing prank on him in 2020. (Riverside County District Attorney’s Office) 
Hundreds attend a vigil on Jan. 24, 2020, for three teens who died in a Temescal Valley crash five days earlier. (Credit: KTLA) 
Drake Ruiz is seen in an undated photo posted to a GoFundMe page. 
Anurag Chandra appears for his arraignment in a Riverside courtroom on Jan. 23, 2020. (Credit: KTLA) 
Anurag Chandra, 45, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 14, 2023 for killing three teenage boys after they played a doorbell-ringing prank on him in 2020. (Riverside County District Attorney’s Office) 
CHP released this booking photo of Anurag Chandra on Jan. 20, 2020. 
Anurag Chandra, 45, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 14, 2023 for killing three teenage boys after they played a doorbell-ringing prank on him in 2020. (Riverside County District Attorney’s Office)
He then drove away from the scene and returned home without reporting the crash, authorities said.
The collision killed three teen boys identified as Drake Ruiz, Daniel Hawkins, and Jacob Ivascu — all 16 years old.
The other teens who survived the crash were an 18-year-old driver, a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy. A large vigil with hundreds of community members was held in the boys’ honor in 2020.
At the time, witnesses who saw the accident followed Chandra’s vehicle to a nearby home before reporting him to authorities, according to the California Highway Patrol.
One of the victims’ mother told KTLA the boys were celebrating a birthday that night and played the ding-dong ditch prank on a home they believed belonged to another teenager they knew.
“Every day we sense the absence of this young man,” said Craig Hawkins, Daniel’s father. “The hole in our hearts and lives from the taking of our son’s life is staggering.”
Chandra testified at trial that one of the boys who rang his doorbell had exposed his buttocks before running away, according to The Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Chandra claimed he followed the teens’ vehicle because he feared for his family’s safety and wanted to express his anger. He said he was “extremely, extremely mad” from the prank.
Chandra also testified that he drank 12 beers in the hours before the crash.
“The lives of countless families will never be the same because of one man’s anger, callousness and outrageous conduct, and I am grateful to Judge Navarro for imposing the maximum sentence in this case,” said District Attorney Mike Hestrin.
Chandra has been in custody at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside since his arrest on Jan. 20, 2020.
He was also facing criminal charges in connection with a domestic violence case in which he plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of spousal battery and child endangerment.
