Students mourn 5 teens killed in crash; police seek answers
Friends mourned the loss of five Irvine high school students Wednesday as police continued to investigate the crash.
Irvine High students and others left flowers, photos and trinkets on a concrete retaining wall Wednesday as they headed to class for the first time since the crash.
Girls in white tops and jeans cried and hugged one another. Some boys stood, hands in pockets, heads bowed looking over the memorial.
“It’s a tight community within the school and the district,” said Keith Tuominem, Irvine Unified’s director of secondary education.
The 17-year-old high school student who was behind the wheel when his car spun out of control in a horrific Memorial Day crash in Newport Beach did not have a valid driver’s license, according to court and motor vehicle records. Abdulrahman M. Alyahyan had received a citation in April for violating his provisional license, records show.
The high school junior, records show, was pulled over just blocks from his Irvine home and cited for making a prohibited modification to the exhaust system of his gray 2008 Infiniti — which bore the personalized license plate “KHASONA” — and having tinted windows that obstructed the driver’s view.
PHOTOS: 5 killed in Newport Beach crash
DMV records show Abdulrahman did not have a driver’s license, but had a pending application for one.
Abdulrahman and a group of friends where killed in the violent crash Monday along a downhill stretch of Jamboree Road, not far from the city’s police station and the upscale Fashion Island mall.
Along with Abdulrahman, four Irvine High School students were killed: sisters Robin A. Cabrera, 17, a 12th-grader, and Aurora C. Cabrera, 16, a 10th-grader; and 11th-graders Nozad Al Hamawendi and Cecilia D. Zamora, both 17. Abdulrahman attended University High in Irvine.
Kevin Morales, 15, who was on his way to Irvine High School, lamented the loss of the two sisters, Aurora “Christine” Cabrera, 16, and Robin A. Cabrera, 17, who died in the crash. Christine sat near him in class.
“Christine was really nice and kind to other people,” he said, “and Cecilia was the same way. They were always happy.”
He learned of the crash through Instagram and Facebook.
Irvine High students spent much of the day making posters that paid tributes to the victims.
Tara Jaff, 17, said that when she recently moved from San Diego, Nozad was her only friend.
“It was horrible,” she said. “Today was like the worst day of school.”
She only went to one class but broke down crying, leaving to make a poster for Nozad with other classmates to present to the teenager’s family. The poster was red and black with smiley faces and this message: “We love you!”
Authorities called Monday’s wreck the worst one-car crash in memory. Police said speed played a role in the crash. The victims were apparently headed to the beach, according to wire service reports.
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Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times
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