4 Die in Collision; Driver Held in Deaths

Four people, including three children, were killed in a South-Central Los Angeles traffic collision early Friday. The driver of the automobile that broadsided their vehicle was arrested on suspicion of murder and possible drunk driving, police said.

A police spokesman said that according to witnesses, David Columbus Hasson Jr., 33, had been traveling north on Hoover Street at about 3 a.m. “at a very high rate of speed.” Witnesses said his car ran a red light at Gage Avenue and struck a car driven by Lydia Tucker, 20, cutting it in two, severely injuring Tucker and killing her four passengers.

All those involved in the accident were from Los Angeles.

The dead were identified by police as Michael Magee, 25; Shenike Magee, 2; Duwone Magee, 11 months, and Ryan Wagner, 3. All were thrown from the vehicle by the force of the collision.

Tucker, identified by police as the mother of the children, was taken to Daniel Freeman Hospital in Inglewood where she was listed in critical but stable condition with internal injuries and several broken vertebrae.

Hasson was listed in critical but stable condition at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital.

Police said Tucker’s vehicle had been waiting at the intersection to make a left turn onto Hoover when the accident occurred.

After the collision, Hasson’s automobile continued on and struck two other vehicles facing the opposite direction that were waiting for the red light on Hoover. No one in the other cars was hurt.

Police said that no chase had been under way and that Hasson’s automobile had not been under police observation at the time of the accident.

Several witnesses agreed that Hasson had been driving at a speed perhaps as high as 70 m.p.h. and had run the red light.