Las Vegas teen among 3 killed in fiery crash on PCH in Huntington Beach
One of the three people killed early Thursday when a car slammed into the back of their vehicle in Huntington Beach was a teenager set to graduate from Centennial High School in Las Vegas in June, according to his family.
The family identified him as A.J. Rossi, who was in Southern California with the other victims for spring break, investigators said. Coroner’s officials have not publicly identified the other victims, who authorities say also were young Las Vegas residents.
Rossi’s family set up a GoFundMe page to cover his funeral expenses. The page had raised more than $22,000 by Friday evening.
It described him as always being the center of attention, with a smile that “lit up every single room that he walked into.”
“In fact, A.J. just won the ‘Best Smile’ superlative for his senior class,” the page reads. “After high school, A.J. had plans to attend college at College of Southern Nevada this fall. A.J. had a whole life ahead of him.”
The driver of the other car, Bani Duarte of San Clemente, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Duarte, 27, who is listed in jail records as a receptionist, was booked into Orange County Jail in Santa Ana with bail set at $100,000. She has not been charged, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office, which is reviewing the case.
Huntington Beach police responded at 1:08 a.m. Thursday to a report of a crash involving two vehicles at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street. A Toyota was on fire when officers arrived, Officer Angela Bennett said.
Bennett said a Hyundai Sonata traveling north on PCH struck the Toyota, which was stopped at a red light at the intersection with Magnolia.
Three people in the Toyota were killed. A passenger who was able to get out of the car was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Huntington Beach police accident investigator Joshua Page at (714) 536-5670.
KTLA contributed to this report.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
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