Driver charged with murder in crash that killed Las Vegas teens

Las Vegas Review-Journal

7 years ago

Bani Duarte (Huntington Beach Police Department)

Emergency personnel respond to a car crash on the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, Calif., on March 29, 2018. Three Las Vegas teens, all Centennial High School students, were killed when their vehicle was struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were enjoying their spring break, according to a family member of one of the victims. (Image from video by OnScene.tv)

Students pray for the four Centennial High School students who died over spring break during a vigil on April 3, 2018, at Centennial High School in Las Vegas. Three students were killed in a car crash in Huntington Beach, Calif., on March 29, and a fourth student took his life. Benjamin Hager Las Vegas Review-Journal @benjaminhphoto

Junior Catriona Palmer, right, takes a photo of attendees during a vigil for four Centennial High School students who died over spring break on April 3, 2018, at Centennial High School in Las Vegas. Three students were killed in a car crash in Huntington Beach, Calif., on March 29, and a fourth student took his life the same day at his Las Vegas home. Benjamin Hager Las Vegas Review-Journal @benjaminhphoto

Balloons are released to honor the four Centennial High School students who died over spring break during a vigil on April 3, 2018, at Centennial High School, in Las Vegas. Three students were killed in a car crash in Huntington Beach, Calif., on March 29, and a fourth student took his life the same day at his Las Vegas home. Benjamin Hager Las Vegas Review-Journal @benjaminhphoto

A makeshift roadside memorial is still up at the site of a crash that claimed three teens in Huntington Beach, Calif. on April 7, 2018. Flowers, photos, candles and signs are posted at the corner of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway where Centennial High School students Dylan Mack, A.J. Rossi and Brooke Hawley were killed in a car crash on March 29. The three teens were killed when Dylan’s Toyota was rear-ended by a suspected drunk driver while the students were in California on spring break. Scott Varley Las Vegas Review-Journal

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.