RANCHO SANTE FE, Calif.—
Monday will be a heartbreaking day for Torrey Pines High School students as they head back to school without three of their classmates after a fatal car accident early Sunday morning.According to the Medical Examiner, a 2008 Mazda 3 carrying five 17-year-old boys was speeding down La Granada near the Rancho Sante Fe Golf Club at 1:45 a.m. when the car flipped several times and landed in some bushes.
The front passenger is in the hospital. A boy seated in the back of the car was ejected from the vehicle and killed. The driver and two of the other passengers were wearing seat belts and were not injured, authorities said.
Police arrested the driver of the car on suspicion of driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter. The name of the boy who died was not released because has family had not been notified.
Friends of the victims said the five teenagers, all seniors at Torrey Pines High School, had just left a party and were on their way to get some food when the accident happened. Sunday evening the site was covered with about a dozen bouquets of flowers and cards left by friends who learned of the accident on Facebook.
"It's been tough for us through these times, so I just thought I'd pay a visit," said Ross Killingbeck from the crash site.
Killingbeck graduated last year from Torrey Pines High School and said he was good friends with the victims. He said he knew the boy who died very well.
"He played baseball; he did a lot of sports, you know, he was interested in a lot of things," said Killingbeck. " I just feel really bad that this had to happen to him."
