USC student among three young adults killed in Tesla crash in Piedmont

A USC student was one of three people killed in a Tesla Cybertruck crash early Wednesday in Piedmont, the university confirmed Saturday.

USC provided no additional details about the student, Soren Dixon, who was in the vehicle with three others that crashed into a tree and was engulfed in flames.

Piedmont Police Capt. Chris Monahan said that the Tesla “jumped the curb, struck a cement wall, and then wedged in between the wall and a tree.” Police said speed was likely a factor in the single-vehicle crash but that their investigation is continuing.

The California Highway Patrol is handling the investigation.

Dixon’s Linkedin page described him as a biological science major at USC who had graduated from Piedmont High School.

The identities of the two others who died have yet to be released by authorities; they also were reported to be fellow graduates of Piedmont High’s Class of 2023.

A memorial is displayed for victims of a Tesla Cybertruck crash in Piedmont, Calif., on Friday.

(Santiago Mejia / San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Samantha Miller, the mother of a fourth occupant in the Tesla who was pulled from the vehicle by another driver, told CBS News in the San Francisco Bay Area that the two other crash victims were Jack Nelson and Krysta Tsukahara, college students in Colorado and Georgia, respectively.

Miller told CBS News that her 20-year-old son Jordan Miller was back in surgery on Friday. His mother couldn’t be reached Saturday.

Mohahan said on Saturday that the fourth person who was injured in the crash was in critical condition but stable.

Jennifer Hawn, superintendent of Piedmont Unified School District, said in a statement that school officials were stunned and saddened by the news.

“At this point in time, we are not able to release information about who was affected by the accident beyond the fact that the students graduated in 2023; however, the loss of young lives is a profound tragedy, made even more difficult during the holiday season,” Hawn said. “Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy.”

Piedmont Police Chief Jeremy Bowers said that dispatchers got an iPhone alert from a passenger in the Cybertruck about 3:10 that morning. The Tesla had been in a crash and was engulfed in flames by the time police officers arrived at the scene, according to Bowers.

Bowers said then that “we don’t know the cause of the collision and during the holiday season, our hearts go out to the families that are going to have to deal with this tragedy.”

Bowers wasn’t immediately available for comment Saturday, nor was the principal of Piedmont High School or Piedmont’s mayor, Jen Cavenaugh.

On Thursday, Cavenaugh attended Piedmont’s annual Turkey Trot and called on community members to remember the three high school graduates killed.

“These things aren’t supposed to happen in our community,” she said. “We don’t get a practice ground for this, and there’s no rulebook for how we show up today. I went to bed last night thinking the words might come today for what to say. It turned out there are no words that will bring these kids back to us.”