Lodi car crash: 6 dead, including 3 young siblings, are mourned

Students at schools attended by three siblings killed in a Lodi car crash -- in which three others also died, including a pregnant woman -- mourned the loss of their classmates Wednesday.

Stephanie Miranda, 4, Jose Miranda, 5, and Irving Miranda, 11, were killed in the Tuesday night crash in Lodi, about 15 miles north of Stockton, along with Luis Miranda, 30, and Vivian Rodriguez, 31, who was pregnant, according to the Lodi News-Sentinel.

Irving Miranda attended Lodi Middle School, where he participated in an after-school program and played on the school’s soccer team, said Lodi Unified Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education Catherine Pennington.

“He was a very well-liked young man,” Pennington said. “He was a very good student.”

Kindergartner Stephanie Miranda and first-grader Jose Miranda attended Heritage Primary Elementary School. Their 9-year-old brother, Eden Miranda, was the only family member to survive the crash. He also attends Heritage.

Pennington said a crisis team was sent to the two schools Wednesday.

In all, 12 people were either killed or injured during the accident, which involved six cars at the intersection of Ham Lane and Vine Street around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Witnesses said a sport utility vehicle was speeding at nearly 90 mph just before the crash. The man driving the SUV was talking on his cellphone, witnesses told the News-Sentinel.

No one had been arrested in connection with the accident, but Lodi police served two search warrants overnight, said Lt. Sierra Brucia of the Lodi Police Department.

Yula Ocampo, 15, visited the intersection Wednesday afternoon to lay flowers and mourn the loss of her family members, the News-Sentinel reported.

She said Luis Miranda was her father’s uncle. She said her parents and siblings, as well as the rest of the family, are angry. She said the person who caused the accident was hospitalized, although police have not confirmed that.

“The family is mad,” she said. “It’s not fair that the man who caused the accident is in the hospital, while my cousins and aunt and uncle are dead.”

Mayor Alan Nakanishi, who was out of the country, heard about the accident Tuesday night, the newspaper reported.

“I was very saddened,” he said. “It’s the worst thing that’s happened to Lodi this year. I’m very saddened for the loss -- especially for the pregnant lady and the children that died. It’s a black day for the city.”

[For the Record, 10 a.m. Oct. 24: A previous version of this post incorrectly referred to Eden Miranda as a girl. He is a boy.]

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