Driver charged with murder in crash that killed Las Vegas teens
The California woman accused of driving drunk and killing three Las Vegas teens in a fiery Pacific Coast Highway crash has been charged with murder, records show.
Bani Duarte, 27, of San Clemente, California, was initially arrested on charges of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter shortly after the March 29 crash.
But on Sunday, police again arrested Duarte — this time on three counts of murder — after investigators obtained “more evidence” and learned she was “possibly intending on fleeing the country to avoid prosecution,” Huntington Beach police said.
More information on the new evidence was not immediately available. The Las Vegas Review-Journal was unable to reach the prosecutor in Duarte’s case for comment.
Duarte was booked Sunday into the Huntington Beach City Jail on $5 million bail, police said. She is scheduled to appear in Orange County court Thursday.
The March crash happened about 1 a.m. on the famous coastal highway. Evidence and witnesses at the scene suggest Duarte rear-ended the teens’ car at a red light, causing it to spin, strike a pole and catch fire. One of the four teens was able to escape with severe injuries, but the others — Dylan Mack, A.J. Rossi and Brooke Hawley — all died at the scene.
Duarte was arrested after a field sobriety test. She also was accused of speeding at the time of the crash, according to a criminal complaint. At the time, she was quickly released after posting bail, which was set at $100,000.
All four of the Las Vegas teens involved in the crash were Centennial High School students. A few days after the wreck, hundreds of friends and family members gathered at Knickerbocker Park in the northwest valley to honor the teens.
“Dylan did not die in vain. A.J. did not die in vain. And Brooke did not die in vain, because there will be justice for them,” Dylan’s mother, Renee Mack, said at the vigil.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-8301. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.
