Memorials spring up for 3 Las Vegas high school students killed in Huntington Beach crash

A morning runner passes by bouquets of flowers as they fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)People pass by a small memorial of candles, flowers, and notes as they lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach early on Friday morning, March 30, 2018, near where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A heart candle and flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A morning runner passes by bouquets of flowers as they fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)Candles, flowers, and notes lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)Early morning traffic passes by a memorial of candles, flowers, and notes as they lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, near where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A candle and flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)Bouquets of flowers fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)Bouquets of flowers fill the fence as a collage of photographs sits on the ground on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)People out for a morning walk stop to view a memorial and a collage of photographs at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday morning, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A collage of photographs sits on the ground on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A heart candle and flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A woman stops to view a memorial and a collage of photographs at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday morning, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A blackened sidewalk left over from the deadly accident is just part of the scene as bouquets of flowers fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)Candles, flowers, and notes lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A note with some flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)A sign, bouquets of flowers filling the fence, and a collage of photographs, are part of the scene on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)Bouquets of flowers fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)Show Caption of Expand
Mourners placed bouquets of flowers, photographs, notes and candles along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday in sad remembrance of three Las Vegas high school students who died in a fiery crash caused the day before by a suspected drunken driver.
Dylan Mack, Brooke Hawley and Albert Rossi attended Centennial High School in Las Vegas, and were in Southern California on their spring break, according to media reports. They died after the car they were in burst into flames following the crash  early Thursday morning.
Another student, also from Las Vegas, was injured and remained hospitalized.
The three students, who were identified in a published report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, were enjoying spring break before Mack and Rossi graduated, according to family members.
It was shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday when 27-year-old Bani Duarte slammed her car into the trio’s sedan while they were stopped at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street.
Duarte, of San Clemente, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter. She was uninjured.
Jail records show she’s being held in lieu of $100,000 and is set to appear in court on Monday, April 2. She had been arrested previously on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2016, according to Huntington Beach police, but details of that arrest were not immediately available.
On Friday morning, March 30, there was a growing memorial of flowers on the sidewalk, part of it still charred black from the burning car. A photo collage of Mack was placed on the ground next to a fence, his birth date on it showed he was 18 years old.
Friends and family of the trio mourned the deaths all over social media, many expressing anger at suspected cause of the crash being driving under the influence.
A Twitter page for the high school’s 2018 class shared the news.

Centennial lost 3 wonderful kids last night, our hearts are out to everyone affected by this we are so sorry for what everyone is going through please be safe for the rest of spring break and hold your loved ones close
— Centennial c/o 2018 (@chsbulldogs18) March 29, 2018
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A GoFundMe page was set up for Albert “AJ” Rossi’s family to help defray funeral and other expenses.
“AJ was always the center of attention and his smile lit up every single room that he walked into,” his family wrote on the fundraising page. “After high school, AJ had plans to attend college at College of Southern Nevada this fall. AJ had a whole life ahead of him that a drunk driver abruptly ended.”
 
Source: Oc Register