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Drivers in deadly Chatsworth street-racing crash plead no contest

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The Ford Mustang that struck three pedestrians, killing two of them, in Chatsworth is removed.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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LAPD investigators survey skid marks at the scene where two pedestrians were killed by an out-of-control Ford Mustang that officials say was street racing in Chatsworth.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles police announce a suspect in the Chatsworth fatal street race.  (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Two pedestrians were killed by the driver of a Ford Mustang who fled the scene in Chatsworth, police said.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Skid marks crisscross the pavement at the scene where two pedestrians were killed in Chatsworth.

  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Authorities hold a news conference about the deadly crash that in Chatsworth.

  (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Brittny Mejia poses for a portrait
By Brittny Mejia
Staff WriterFollow
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Two men pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for their involvement in a deadly street race that left two dead in Chatsworth in February.

Karen Gary Balyan, 43, had been racing Irael Valenzuela, 39, on Feb. 26, when — within seconds — he lost control of the Ford Mustang he was driving and slammed it into a curb, hitting three people, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.

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Two men, Eric Siguenza, 26, and Wilson Thomas Wong, 50, died when the car hit them. A third person was injured but survived. Balyan and Valenzuela both pleaded no contest to two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Balyan also entered a no contest plea to one misdemeanor count of assault with a deadly weapon. He faces a sentence of 12 years in state prison, and Valenzuela faces 180 days in jail and five years’ formal probation.

Sentencing for the two men is scheduled for Jan. 4.

A third co-defendant, Henry Gevorgyan, 22, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Thursday. Gevorgyan, the owner of the Mustang, surrendered after the incident. Balyan had been driving Gevorgyan’s car during the race.

Follow me on Twitter @brittny_mejia

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Brittny Mejia

Brittny Mejia is a Metro reporter covering federal courts for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she wrote narrative pieces with a strong emphasis on the Latino community and others that make up the diversity of L.A. and California. Mejia was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2021 in local reporting for her investigation with colleague Jack Dolan that exposed failures in Los Angeles County’s safety-net healthcare system that resulted in months-long wait times for patients, including some who died before getting appointments with specialists. She joined The Times in 2014.

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