A 13-year-old passenger died Wednesday, April 9, days after a single-vehicle crash in Santa Ana that killed four others.
The teen was hospitalized after the crash on Saturday and placed on life support and declared brain dead on Tuesday, according to the Santa Ana Police Department. Wednesday, police said, she “succumbed to her injuries.” She was a student at Carr Intermediate School.
Four people in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, including three students at Santa Ana Valley High School.
The victims were earlier identified as 18-year-old Emmanuel Gonzalez, who was the driver, and passengers Natalia Vidale Zarate, 17; Jacqueline Torres Zarate, 16 and Arely Robles, 20, according to the Orange County Coroner’s Office. Officials have not publicly identified the 13-year-old girl.
A 15-year-old Santa Ana Valley student survived and remains hospitalized, with police saying she is stable.
The crash occurred around 11:25 p.m., when the driver of a speeding Lexus sedan seemed to lose control at a bend in the road near Segerstrom Avenue and Townsend Street. The car struck a palm tree on in a center median near Carl Thornton Park, police said.
When officials with the Orange County Fire Authority arrived, three of the female passengers had been ejected from the car, and the driver and two other passengers were trapped in the car.
Detectives are investigating whether drugs and alcohol played a role in the crash.
Police ask anyone with information about the crash to call 714-245-8224.