Probe Continues in Crash That Killed 3

The three youths killed in a Compton joyriding crash died of multiple traumatic injuries, a Los Angeles County coroner’s office spokesman said Monday as schools announced the news to their classmates.

“The principal called me this morning from Verbum Dei High School and told me they’d gathered in the chapel for a prayer for Derrius,” said Donetta Johnson, whose 15-year-old son died in the crash.

Derrius Johnson had recently transferred from the Catholic school in Watts to Westchester High, which also announced his death over the public address system.

“It was nice that they remembered him,” she said. “He was a sweetheart everyone liked.”

Also killed in the crash were Clydnesha Lindsey, 12, and Ricky Ward, 13. All three victims were from Compton.

An investigation will continue this week into how the driver -- a pajama-clad 13-year-old girl -- was able to get her mother’s car keys, and whether she had taken the four-door white Mazda on previous joyrides, as several friends reported.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ralph Miller said Monday that a decision on whether to file criminal charges against the driver or her mother was not expected until late this week, when the results of the probe would be presented to the district attorney’s office.

“The traffic investigator on the case is not in today,” Miller said, “so nothing is likely to happen before Friday.”

The collision occurred about 6:20 p.m. Saturday after several youths had gathered for a slumber party at one of their homes, said authorities, who reported that at least two of the victims were wearing pajamas.

The Mazda crossed over the center line of Alondra Boulevard, authorities said, and the passenger side was broadsided by a black SUV.

The driver of the Mazda, who was not named because she is a juvenile involved in a potential criminal case, suffered minor neck pain; two other passengers sustained a broken arm and a broken leg, Miller said.

The driver and a passenger in the SUV were not seriously injured.

Miller, who was among the deputies at the scene of the crash, said some of the youths were not wearing seat belts, including Clydnesha, who was ejected from the car. She landed on a wrought iron fence, said deputies and residents near the crash site.