Three 13-year-old girls were tragically killed on Halloween night in Santa Ana, California while they were trick-or-treating. Twin sisters Lexi and Lexandra Perez and their friend Andrea Gonzalez, were walking in a marked crosswalk when a speeding black SUV struck them and left the scene. Authorities later found the abandoned SUV with significant damage and traced it to 31-year-old Jaquinn Bell who was suspected to have fled the scene with his two teenage children. Bell was later found and arrested in a motel in a town nearby.
 |
| Yield to pedestrians-- especially on holidays. |
Bell could face counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, one felony count of hit and run with permanent injury or death, one misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license with sentencing enhancement allegations for personally inflicting great bodily injury and fleeing the scene of a crime after committing a vehicular manslaughter. He faces up to 17 years in state prison if convicted on all charges. Police are attempting to learn if Bell was under the influence when the accident happened — which could change the charges.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Halloween is one of the deadliest days of the year for pedestrians. Attorney Michael Hupy has spent many years fighting for pedestrian awareness including televised appearances spreading the message. Click here to view Hupy and Abraham’s pedestrian PSAs and to receive a free Yield to Pedestrians sticker. Tips on ways to remain safe on Halloween can be found here.
