Man accused of murder and street racing in crash that killed 2 California teens
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
The drivers of a pair of muscle cars that killed two teenage girls in a crash have been identified as two Southern California men, ages 49 and 50, authorities said.
Terry Lamar Easter, 50, of Apple Valley, has been charged with two counts of murder in the girls’ deaths, the San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
He was driving a yellow Chevrolet Camaro on Aug. 14 at speeds of up to 117 mph when he hit a car driven by Maddalyn Dailey, 17, who was giving her friend Isabel Hill, 16, a ride home, the office said. Both died.
Easter has been charged with murder in both of their deaths, as well as a misdemeanor racing charge and a felony charge of child abuse likely to cause serious injury or death. Easter’s 8-year-old son was in his car at the time of the crash, and Easter allegedly fled the scene, leaving his son in the car.
Police took Easter into custody Wednesday morning, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement.
“This was not an accident. Street racing at 117 mph is a deliberate and extraordinarily dangerous choice that ended the lives of two young best friends, exposing his own 8-year-old child to that danger, and abandoning his child after the crash to flee the scene,” Dist. Atty. Jason Anderson said in a statement. “We intend to hold him responsible for every life devastated by his alleged actions.”
Another driver was arrested soon after the crash. George Gary Sanchez, 49, of Riverside, was driving a Dodge Charger and was allegedly the second driver to hit Dailey’s car. He has not been charged yet, the district attorney said.
The men were booked on suspicion of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter with negligence.
The CHP said both men were driving at “extremely high speeds” as they approached the intersection of Ridgecrest Road and Elmwood Drive, where Dailey was exiting her neighborhood.
In connection with their search for Easter, authorities also arrested three other people — Ryan James Lewis, 45, of Victorville; Lukevy Shawntell Yates, 49, of Apple Valley; and Madge Wells, 74, of Apple Valley — on suspicion of being accessories after the fact, the CHP said. The three cooperated with authorities and were later released from custody.
Southern California has developed a deadly culture of street racing that has claimed numerous lives.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
The latest effort is coming from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. They just announced a $3 million program in conjunction with some nonprofits groups to test and clean the soil at homes still standing in the areas impacted by the Eaton Fire.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Dr. Vanessa J. Díaz, professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at Loyola Marymount University and co-author of P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance.
