The four Pepperdine University students struck and killed on the side of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on Tuesday are being remembered for their hard work and positivity.
Vinita Weir — whose only daughter, Asha Weir, was killed, along with Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart and Deslyn Williams, when, authorities said, a 22-year-old driver lost control of his sedan — said Thursday that Pepperdine should be proud of the young women because they represented the school's values impeccably.
They were all seniors and members of the Alpha Phi sorority.
Asha Weir, Rolston and Stewart were also roommates, said Vinita Weir, who was traveling Thursday from her home in Skippack, Pennsylvania, to Los Angeles.
Asha Weir was born May 29, 2002, in Ireland, where her family lived until 2012, when they moved to the U.S.
She had two brothers — Michael, 23, and Jamie, who just turned 15. She made a surprise visit home over the weekend to celebrate his birthday.
"I dropped her to Philadelphia airport on Tuesday morning, and she told me she didn't really want to go back this time but was excited to be coming home again at Thanksgiving," Vinita Weir said. "I miss her and don't know how to do life without her."
Asha Weir knew how to live life to the fullest and "was an amazing daughter and sister," her mom said.
Asha Weir loved Pepperdine and worked hard to get accepted to the private university, her mother said. She majored in English and was looking forward to graduating in the spring. She was considering working in the U.K. afterward.
"She had the biggest heart, a beautiful soul, an empath always caring for others and carrying their burdens," Vinita Weir said.
Barry Stewart, 59, of Tierra Verde, Florida, remembered his daughter Thursday night as a "go-getter," a world traveler and a foodie with a refined palate.
Peyton Stewart was "obsessed with eating sushi when she was 5 years old," he said. “She was on a very good track … careerwise and socially. Good friends. Good habits. She didn’t get into any sort of trouble. ... For somebody like that to be taken away so young is hard to comprehend.”
Stewart said his 21-year-old daughter, who was studying business, accomplished many feats almost entirely on her own, such as getting into her dream university and landing multiple internships during her time at Pepperdine, including working for TikTok in Austin, Texas.
Peyton Stewart was also extremely close with her younger sister, Kathleen, her father said.
The Stewarts were fortunate enough to travel throughout the world. Their destinations included Spain, Greece and France. Peyton, her father said, also studied at Pepperdine's program in London as a sophomore.
Stewart said that during the past several years, he and his daughter bonded during two cross-country road trips together.
Stewart said that he hasn't thought much about the driver suspected in her death and that he's unsure whether he'll attend the suspect's court hearings.
"I’m not sure that me thinking about that person is going to change the situation. I don’t have any plans to go in sit in a courtroom. … I put my faith in the justice system, and I hope my faith is well-placed," he said.
Stewart, who lives part of the year in London, said he's going to miss his weekly phone calls with his daughter.
“I thought the world of her," he said. "I’m going to miss her terribly. Her friends and the rest of her family feel the same way.”
The four women were on the side of Pacific Coast Highway around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when Fraser Michael Bohm of Malibu lost control of his sedan, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
He struck three vehicles that hit the young women, who died at the scene, the sheriff’s department said. He was arrested and accused of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, authorities said.
The Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment about the status of the investigation.
Vinita Weir said she last spoke to her daughter Tuesday when Asha texted her to let her know she had landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport.
"I talked to her every day, and not getting her call will break my heart daily," Vinita Weir said.
Jim Gash, the president and CEO of Pepperdine, said the four women had "brought joy and light" to the campus and were taken "suddenly, tragically, and incomprehensibly."
"Indeed, one of the greatest mysteries of life is when and why our time on this earth is cut short," he said in a statement Wednesday.
