More details are emerging — as well as disputes about the circumstances — in the crash on Pacific Coast Highway that killed four Pepperdine University students last week.
Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams were sisters in the Alpha Phi sorority and seniors at the university. Authorities say they were standing near several parked vehicles in the 21600 block of PCH in Malibu when a BMW barreled into the cars and then struck the women shortly before 9 p.m. Oct. 17.
Here is a review of what we know from Times reporting:
Flowers are placed near the site where the four Pepperdine students were killed.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
What do authorities say happened?
Los Angeles County prosecutors allege the driver, Fraser Michael Bohm, 22, was speeding at 104 mph. The stretch of road has a speed limit of 45 mph.
Investigators have determined that Bohm was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash, but the onboard computer of his car shows he was traveling in excess of 100 mph before he lost control, law enforcement sources not authorized to publicly discuss the case told The Times.
It was that data, along with statements by Bohm that he was familiar with the stretch of PCH and that he was aware of the posted 45-mph speed limit, that led to murder charges against him, sources say.
Bohm faces four counts of malice murder and four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said during a Wednesday news conference, adding that the charges stem from Bohm’s “complete disregard for the life of others.”
“When you are driving at 104 mph in [a] 45-mph [zone], the only conclusion is you have a complete disregard for life,” Gascón said Wednesday in announcing the charges.
What does Bohm’s attorney say?
But Bohm’s attorney, Michael Kraut, says his client was not traveling that fast. He also has forwarded a claim to prosecutors alleging that another vehicle was involved in the crash. He said Wednesday that his client was the victim of a road-rage incident that night.
“They ignored evidence of a second car,” Kraut told The Times. “My client was getting away from the guy chasing him.”
Kraut said another driver “came into the lane and clipped him” and Bohm “hit the brakes.”
“The evidence turned over showed at max [he was going] 70 mph,” Kraut said of the information he has received in the case, adding that his client has “totally cooperated” with the investigation and passed a field sobriety test.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Arens told reporters Wednesday at the news conference that he had “no evidence” that the crash stemmed from an alleged road-rage incident.
How has Malibu responded to the crash?
There has been an outpouring of grief for the victims as well as demands that officials do more to improve pedestrian safety on PCH, which has been the site of numerous accidents.
The City Council unanimously voted this week to ask staff for a report and to consider a motion to declare an emergency, which would free up resources within its jurisdiction to make PCH safer. But before those actions, nearly 30 people stood up to express their grief and anger about the deadly dangers posed by the stretch of road where the young women were killed.
Michel Shane is a film producer and father of Emily, who was killed at age 13 by a speeding driver while she was walking on that section of highway in 2010. Shane made a documentary around the incident and told The Times prior to the start of the meeting that he was on hand to push for the California Department of Transportation to make changes to improve safety.
A petition Shane created on Oct. 20 as a call to action has garnered more than 4,000 signatures.
Residents and business owners have said speeding is a chronic problem in the area where the accident occurred. They blame Caltrans District 7 for a lack of change.
Over the last 10 years, Caltrans has counted more than 4,000 collisions along PCH in Malibu, with the primary causes being speeding and improper turns, the city says. After the Oct. 17 crash, Malibu outlined the traffic safety improvements it had already made, including pedestrian crosswalk improvements and traffic signal synchronization.
But those who spoke at Monday’s meeting were demanding that more be done: speed cameras added, the speed limit reduced and more sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers policing the highway.
Richard Winton, Jeremy Childs, Karen Garcia
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