Driver in suspected DUI crash that killed North Hollywood vendors charged with murder

A 61-year-old Valley Village man has been charged with three counts of murder for a suspected drunk driving wreck that killed three street food vendors near the North Hollywood Metro station on Tuesday night, officials said.

Ihor Demianenko faces life in prison if convicted as charged after his Nissan Sienna hopped the curb on Lankershim Boulevard near Chandler Avenue and plowed into a series of blue and white tarps that housed vendors who had been feeding Metro line commuters for years, according to a criminal complaint made public Friday. His blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Two other pedestrians were struck by the vehicle, and one remains in serious condition, according to LAPD Capt. Mike Bland, the department’s chief spokesman. Demianenko remains hospitalized and was unable to appear in a Van Nuys courtroom on Friday, Bland said.

The women who died in the crash were Francesca Krystine Esker, 39, Teodora De Jesus Villalobos, 57, and Maria Angelica Peck, 73, according to the district attorney’s office.

“Once again, an impaired driver has left a trail of carnage on our Los Angeles streets. The victims of this horrific crash included street vendors who were simply trying to earn a living when tragedy struck. My deepest sympathies are with the families of the three women who lost their lives, and I hope the two other victims who were seriously injured make a full recovery,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement.

Demianenko is expected to be arraigned on Monday. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. He has not been previously convicted or accused of any driving offenses in California, according to state Department of Motor Vehicles records. He was involved in a car accident in 2024, records show.

Police said Demianenko was driving southbound on Lankershim at an “unsafe speed” around 6 p.m. Tuesday when his vehicle struck a row of street vendors who are normally stationed outside the transit hub that marks the end of the Metro B Line train and the G Line bus extension to Chatsworth. On the night of the crash, the car could be seen on the sidewalk under a blue tarp, while coolers, soda cans and racks of snacks the women usually sold were scattered about.

Area residents said the women who operated the row of food stalls there were beloved community members who had sold hot dogs, tamales, coffee and snacks to rush-hour commuters for years.

LaDuke Warwick, 47, told The Times that an act of kindness from one of the women changed his life.

Warwick said he was homeless about five months ago and sleeping on a nearby vent when one of the women approached and told him to come with her.

“I haven’t watched you eat in three days,” he recalled her saying. She gave Warwick one of her hot dogs.

“Everybody in this area loved them,” Warwick said. “They were such sweet souls.”

On the night of the wreck, fellow vendors who operated in the area continued to sell their wares to the crowd of onlookers who arrived at the scene, hours after watching their colleagues get mowed down.

“I’m just glad it wasn’t my family, but it still hurts,” said 12-year-old Kassandra Guzman, as her father served someone a smash burger across the street.

Times staff writer Fedor Zarkhim contributed to this report.