The 13-year-old life-supporting girl succumbed to injuries on Wednesday after a horrific and tragic crash in Santa Ana, which claimed the lives of four primarily teenage victims, authorities said.
Santa Ana Police Department officials responded to a report of a violent single-vehicle crash near the intersection of West Segall Strom Avenue and Southtownsend Street at about 11:30pm on April 5, and found six men and five women in the car at the time of the crash.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the 18-year-old male car driver was traveling at West Segerstrom’s high speed when he missed a turn and crashed onto a tree.
At least two victims were kicked out of the vehicle, but it was damaged to the point of not recognizing and had to be accessed by firefighters using ladders.
Three teenage passengers and one adult were declared dead at the scene.
Ignacio Robles was seen at the Crushsite Memorial, where his daughter Aurelia “Arie” Robles died on March 5, 2025. (Jasmin Robles via GFM) People gather near the scene of the crash that killed five people in Santa Ana on April 5, 2025.
The 13-year-old, whose identity has not yet been released, was rushed to a hospital listed in the “cemetery.”
On Tuesday, authorities announced that the young girl was declared brain dead shortly after the fatal collision.
The other victim who was killed was identified as 18-year-old driver Emmanuel “Manny” Gonzalez Martinez. Aurelia “Arely” Robles, 20; Natalia Vidal Zarate, 17; Jaqueline Torres Zarate, 16.
Arlene Robless, 15, the younger sister of Aurelia, the sole survivor of the crash, is still in stable but serious condition, telling KTLA that her father will undergo surgery for the injury when crashed.
Grief friends and family said the group of young people knew each other from volleyball high school and the 13-year-old Kerr intermediate class who attended school.
“At this point, detectives are investigating whether drugs or alcohol are the source of the conflict,” a SAPD news release said.
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