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Trick-or-Treaters Mourned After Halloween Hit-and-Run Crash

Andrea Gonzalez was among the three 13-year-old trick-or-treaters hit and killed by an SUV as they crossed the street on Friday in Santa Ana, Calif.
Image: A photograph of Andrea Gonzales is taped to a donation box at a makeshift memorial near where Gonzales and two other girls were killed
A photograph of Andrea Gonzales is taped to a donation box at a makeshift memorial near where Gonzales and two other girls were killed in a hit and run on Halloween.Chris Carlson / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Taking to the streets after hearing a loud crash on Halloween night, Brenda Gonzalez soon saw signs of her sister: the pillowcases she and her friends had been carrying for candy, the tutu she'd been wearing. "The first thing that came through my mind was, why isn't anybody helping them," Gonzalez, 24, said Monday. "A few seconds later I realized, you know, there's a reason they're not helping them. They're gone."

Gonzalez's sister Andrea Gonzalez was among the three 13-year-old trick-or-treaters hit and killed by an SUV as they crossed the street. Her friends, twin sisters Lexi and Lexandra Perez, were also killed. Gonzalez said Andrea, who loved music and baking, decided not to go to a Halloween party this year so she could trick-or-treat with her loved ones. "She was so selfless. She never asked for anything," Gonzalez said, wiping away tears at a makeshift memorial marked by dozens of balloons, flowers, candles and photos. "She didn't even want to ask my mom for a costume for Halloween." The California driver who police say struck and killed the teens before fleeing had recently pleaded guilty to a separate hit-and-run, authorities said Monday. Jaquinn Bell, 31, of Orange, drove a black Honda SUV through a marked crosswalk Friday near an elementary school in Santa Ana, police said. Authorities believe Bell fled with his two teenage children after ditching the damaged car in a nearby parking lot.

Image: A photograph of Andrea Gonzales is taped to a donation box at a makeshift memorial near where Gonzales and two other girls were killed
A photograph of Andrea Gonzales is taped to a donation box at a makeshift memorial near where Gonzales and two other girls were killed in a hit and run on Halloween.Chris Carlson / AP
- The Associated Press