Police Make Arrest in Connection with Halloween Hit-and-Run that Killed 3 Teens

Originally posted at 1:25 p.m. Nov. 3, 2014. Edited with new details.

A 31-year-old convicted drunken driver was behind bars today in connection with a Halloween hit-and-run crash that killed three 13-year-old girls who were trick-or-treating in Santa Ana.

Jaquinn Ramone Bell, who was being held in Santa Ana’s jail, was arrested about 11:30 a.m. Sunday at a Motel 6, 7450 Katella Ave., in Stanton, according to Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas. Two other adults, including his mother, were also arrested at the motel and his two children were taken into protective custody, but the adults and children were later released, Rojas said.

Bell was booked on suspicion of hit-and-run causing death.

Rojas said Bell is believed to have been driving the black Honda CRV that struck the girls, and the children -- aged 17 and 14 -- were in the vehicle with him. Bell did not own the vehicle, but it “belonged to someone who was associated with Mr. Bell,” Rojas said.

The victims -- identified by the Orange County coroner’s office as Andrea Gonzalez and twin sisters Lexandra Perez and Lexi Perez, all from Santa Ana -- were in costume and in a crosswalk when they were struck in the 1400 block of East Fairhaven Avenue near Jacaranda Street around 6:45 p.m. Friday. The driver of the westbound SUV that hit them fled.

All three girls were pronounced dead at the scene, where a makeshift memorial continued to grow over the weekend.

The vehicle was found at 2700 N. Grand Ave. in a nearby parking lot with extensive damage to the front end, Rojas said.

The driver “probably knew they hit something,” judging from the damage to the vehicle, Rojas said.

It was difficult to track down Bell as he had many past addresses, Rojas said. His last known address was in Orange, police said. According to court records, he also lived at 1300 Fairhaven.

Bell has a lengthy criminal record, dating back to a domestic violence incident on Aug. 9, 2008. Bell admitted in a 2009 guilty plea that he “punched my wife ... in the face, giving her a black eye,” according to court documents.

Bell was ordered to enroll in a one-year program for batterers with a “drug and alcohol component,” but court records indicate he was found to have violated probation several times over the years for failing to pay fines or fees, completing Caltrans service in lieu of jail time or participating in the court-ordered program.

On June 25, 2010, in Anaheim, he violated a protective order to stay away from his estranged wife. He pleaded guilty three days later and was ordered to serve 30 days in jail, was placed on three years of informal probation and ordered to participate in the program for domestic violence, according to court records.

Most recently, Bell pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to child abuse and endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol and hit-and-run with property damage, all misdemeanors. According to court records, Bell, who had struck a median in Anaheim three days earlier, was sentenced to 10 days in jail, put on three years of informal probation and ordered to enroll in a child abusers treatment program.

Responding to news of an arrest over the weekend, Andrea Gonzalez’s mother told CBS2 in Spanish, “They took my little girl away. They took my princess.”

Andrea’s brother, Josafat Gonzalez, said, “The people who did this just left them there. As if they were nothing. They’re finally in custody. They have to answer to justice. That brings a sigh of relief. Not just to my parents, or to the twins’ family but to the whole community.”

The death of the three girls was one of two Halloween tragedies in Orange County. A 65-year-old man was fatally struck by a vehicle and his 4-year- old son was critically injured in the 100 block of West Yale Loop in Irvine around 7:10 p.m. Friday, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. The boy was trick-or-treating in a Captain America costume, he said.

Paramedics took John Alcorn to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead at 8:36 p.m. Friday, according to the Coroner’s Office.

The female driver of the vehicle, a Mazda 3, stopped at the scene and was not facing charges, according to Irvine police.

Witnesses were urged to contact Irvine police at (949) 724-7024.

--City News Service

PHOTO Image via Shutterstock.

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