OC Students Mourn Classmates Killed In Fiery Crash
IRVINE (CBSLA.com) — Students at two Orange County high schools Monday mourned the loss of five classmates who were killed in a fiery crash over the weekend.
KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports a number of students at Capistrano Valley High School and Laguna Hills High School chose to wear the color red in honor of the victims.
OC Students Mourn Classmates Killed In Fiery Crash
The crash happened around 2:12 a.m. Saturday on the southbound side of the Santa Ana (5) Freeway south of the Route 133 toll road when a white 1995 BMW driven by 16-year-old Bradley Morales flew off the freeway and caught fire, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The Orange County coroner's office says each of the dead teens was a passenger in a solo out-of control vehicle.
Two Capistrano Valley students, Alex Sotelo and Matthew Melo, played soccer along with Brandon Moreno of Carl Hankey Middle School. The two female victims — Jenny Campos and Jenny Bahena — played water polo at Laguna Hills High School.
The five friends, all aged between 14 and 15, were coming from from an evening at Knott's Scary Farm.
A vigil was held Sunday for the victims.
Morales, who was thrown from the fiery crash, was hospitalized in serious but stable condition Monday following brain surgery, according to officials.
Lesley Perez and other students at Laguna Hills High were still struggling to come to grips with the loss of Bahena and Campos.
"Every day at school, they would just make everyone happy, just light up the room, and I really miss them," said Perez.
A Laguna Hills faculty member said she hoped this would become a teachable moment for the student body - and hopefully will save lives in the future.
The CHP said Morales was unlicensed.
It was also unclear if Morales' parents gave him keys to the vehicle or if he took them without their permission which could determine if they could face possible charges.
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