3 rideshare passengers killed in crash in Southern California

Three women from Orange County who were rideshare passengers, including two sisters, were killed early Saturday, Aug. 26, when the car was hit broadside by another vehicle at a south Los Angeles intersection, authorities said.

Three other people were critically injured, the California Highway Patrol said.

Kimberly Izquierdo, 27, of Santa Ana; Juvelyn Arroyo, 23, of San Juan Capistrano; and Veronica Amezola, 23, of Santa Ana, died in the collision, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Izquierdo and Amezola were sisters, according to a GoFundMe page established to assist the family with expenses.

Arroyo was a childhood friend of the sisters, according to the page. A GoFundMe account was also set up for her family.

The crash happened around 5:25 a.m. at South Vermont Avenue and West Century Boulevard, several blocks west of the 110 Freeway.

LAPD Officer Rosario Cervantes said a Mercedes headed north on Vermont ran a red light and plowed into the Honda, which was westbound on Century.

“He [passed] the vehicles that were stopped at the red light, doing the right thing. He passes on the left side of them, into the turn lanes and goes around them and strikes the victims,” LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno said of the Mercedes driver, according to a Fox11 report. “And you’re talking about going 85, 90 mph at least.”

Fox11 reported that the women were all sitting in the back seat of an Uber, that a male passenger in the front seat was injured and the female driver was critically injured. The crash was so violent that one of the women in the back seat was ejected, police said, according to the TV report.

The Mercedes driver was in the hospital, Cervantes said. She said investigators have not determined why the Mercedes ran the red light.

The LAPD identified the Mercedes driver as 31-year-old Gregory Black. He faces charges of vehicular manslaughter, the LAPD said.

SCNG Staff Writer Mona Darwish and City News Service contributed to this report.