A candlelight vigil will be held Wednesday night for three sisters and their mother who were brutally murdered on July 12 while driving back to their Southern California home from Texas with two close family friends.
According to local news reports, Karly Perez, 42, of Banning, and her three daughters: Olivia, 12, Emalynn, 11, and Emalynn, 8 A vigil for Giana is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Centennial Park in Menifee. The park is where the girls play softball. Menifee Girls Softball celebrated the young athletes in a Facebook post.
Friends Heather Ventura (left) and Carly Perez at Joker (inset), Lucas Tejada (left), Gianna Perez (behind Lucas), Emma Lyn Perez, Olivia Perez and Ventura’s stepdaughter Alyssa met at a restaurant.
(Nick Ventura)
“Three girls who were shy by nature but burst with energy on the softball field surrounded by family, friends and teammates on both sides of the fence,” the social media post read. “They will be deeply missed by everyone.”
The fatal crash also killed Perez’s friend Heather Ventura, 37, of Upland, and her 13-year-old son, Lucas Tejada, according to the Pima County Medical Examiner in Arizona. Lucas Tejada’s life.
Nick Ventura told The Times that his sister and Perez had been best friends for more than a decade, supporting each other like sisters and coordinating whenever they needed to send their children to school or attend sporting events. .
“They are a family unit,” Ventura said. “It’s such a beautiful thing.”
Ventura said his nephew aspired to be a chef and was such a fan of British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay that he traveled with his mother to Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen in San Diego County to taste Beef Wellington. One photo of Lucas shows him standing in front of the kitchen stove, wearing a Hell’s Kitchen chef jacket and smiling.
Lucas Tejada is a fan of chef Gordon Ramsay.
(Nick Ventura)
“But he was also a regular kid who loved playing video games,” Ventura said.
He said he purchased a gaming system at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic so he and Lucas could play together.
Ventura said the two drove to Texas to visit Heather’s stepdaughter, Alyssa, who is also very close to all of her children. They were involved in a fatal car accident while returning from their trip.
Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said in a statement that the tragic accident occurred on the afternoon of July 12 on the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 near Quartzsite, Arizona. Mileage No. 33.
Graves said a Ford F-550 stake truck was traveling westbound in Lane 1 when it stopped due to highway paving work and failed to slow down.
“As a result, the Ford truck collided with the rear of a Chevrolet Traverse carrying six people,” Graves said. “The Traverse was pushed into a Jeep passenger van, which was then pushed into two other vehicles.”
He said the first three vehicles caught fire in the incident. Passengers in the Chevrolet Traverse, including Perez and her three daughters, were pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the Ford truck was not injured, Graves said.
“Although we are consulting with the La Paz County Prosecutor’s Office regarding possible charges, he was not subpoenaed at that time,” he said.
The girls’ aunt, Kasandra Tunchez, told KTLA her nieces are smart and well-mannered.
“Those are the stars of our world,” she said. “Now that they’re gone, all we have left is the memories.”
Tunchez said her brother, Vincente Perez, was grieving the loss of his wife and children, and the family rallied together to support him.
