A 22-year-old man has been charged with three counts of homicide for a violent collision in South Los Angeles that killed a person, a lady and their 5-year-old daughter and badly injured the lady’s sister, the L.A. district lawyer introduced Thursday.
Jordan Kahari Isaac was allegedly driving inebriated on New 12 months’s Eve when he ran a cease signal and plowed right into a sedan occupied by Jose Pascagaza, 49, his spouse, Luisa Bernal, 30, and their daughters Mia, 5, and Hanna, who simply turned 2. The toddler suffered traumatic accidents however is anticipated to get well, authorities mentioned.
Authorities mentioned that simply earlier than the lethal crash, Isaac, driving a white Chevrolet Tahoe, rear-ended one other automobile a number of blocks away, injuring the motive force. As an alternative of stopping, he allegedly sped away, driving over 60 mph in a 25 mph residential zone, and ran a cease signal earlier than T-boning the sedan.
The collision “was so violent and had a lot power” that the sedan was pushed throughout the intersection, knocking over a road signal and crashing right into a fence earlier than coming to a cease by a car parking zone, LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno mentioned in a information convention posted by Fox LA.
Bystanders who tried to assist free the victims from their automobile advised investigators the collision “seemed like an explosion,” Moreno mentioned.
Pascagaza, the motive force, died on the scene. Mia was pronounced useless on arrival on the hospital, and her mom died two days later. Hanna stays hospitalized in a pediatric intensive care unit at Harbor-UCLA Medical Heart.
Authorities and relations mentioned the household is from Bogotá, Colombia, and had been dwelling in L.A. for simply over a 12 months. The ladies’ older sister, Angie Pascagaza, who lives in Colombia, created a GoFundMe to boost cash to move the our bodies again to Colombia for burial with their household, and to assist with medical bills for Hanna. She described her father as a hardworking man who got here to the U.S. searching for a greater life for his household.
Isaac was hospitalized after the crash with non-life-threatening accidents, authorities mentioned.
Along with three counts of homicide, Isaac is charged with three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter whereas intoxicated, one depend of driving beneath the affect of an alcoholic beverage inflicting damage, and one depend of hit-and-run driving leading to damage to a different individual.
If convicted, he faces a most sentence of life in jail. His bail is ready at $6.1 million.
Isaac’s case is being dealt with by the general public defender’s workplace, a spokesperson advised JS. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 15.
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