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Thread: Anurag Chandra Sentenced to LWOP in 2020 CA Murder of Daniel Hawkins, Jacob Ivascu and Drake Ruiz

  1. #1
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    Anurag Chandra Sentenced to LWOP in 2020 CA Murder of Daniel Hawkins, Jacob Ivascu and Drake Ruiz





    Man accused of intentionally ramming car, killing 3 teens in California

    CORONA, Calif. (KCBS/KCAL/CNN) - A 42-year-old California man has been arrested on murder charges with officials accusing him of intentionally hitting a Toyota Prius carrying six teenage boys, leading to three deaths.

    Officials with the California Highway Patrol say 42-year-old Anurag Chandra rammed his car into a Toyota Prius carrying six teenage boys Sunday night in Temescal Valley, California. The Prius slammed into a tree, instantly killing some and trapping others.

    Responding fire crews had to use the Jaws of Life to get the three trapped teens out of the car.

    One of the victims died at the scene and the other five were rushed to a hospital, where two more died, according to CHP. The other three injured boys are expected to survive.

    The boys who were killed were later identified by their church as Daniel Hawkins, Jacob Ivascu and Drake Ruiz. The surviving teens were identified as Joshua Hawkins, Joshua Ivascu and Sergio Campusano. Among the victims are two sets of brothers. All were part of their church youth ministry.

    Officials arrested Chandra at his home, about a half-mile from the crash site. A witness had followed the suspect there and informed officers. Chandra is charged with murder with malice and assault with a deadly weapon.

    The CHP is investigating what led up to the crash, including possible road rage and whether the suspect knew the teenagers.

    “Obviously, there was some sort of contact which led to this incident, whereby he did initially ram this vehicle, causing the deaths of these three young boys,” CHP Lt. David Yokley said.

    Officials say it is not clear if any of the teenagers involved were wearing seat belts, as their car only had five of them.

    It was not initially believed that drugs or alcohol were involved in the collision.

    https://www.kold.com/2020/01/21/man-...ns-california/
    Last edited by Steven; 07-19-2023 at 07:19 AM.

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    Man accused of chasing, killing 3 teens in Temescal Valley pleads not guilty

    City News Service

    A man accused of chasing and ramming a car of teenage boys, killing three and injuring three others when the vehicle slammed into a tree in Temescal Valley, pleaded not guilty Friday, Feb. 21, to murder and attempted murder charges.

    Anurag Chandra, 42, was arrested last month following a California Highway Patrol investigation into the deadly collision.

    Along with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, Chandra faces a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, potentially making him eligible for the death penalty.

    Chandra appeared before Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Gunn, who scheduled a felony settlement conference May 26 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. He’s being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.

    Chandra allegedly killed Daniel Hawkins, 16, of Corona; Jacob Ivascu, 16, of Riverside; and Drake Ruiz, 16, of Corona. A 13-year-old boy, 14-year-old boy and 18-year-old, who was at the wheel of the car that was struck, suffered moderate to major injuries.

    According to family members, they were playing a game of “Ding Dong Ditch” in a Temescal Valley neighborhood south of Corona. They rang the doorbell and ran away before it was answered at what they thought was a friend’s house.

    Shortly after 10 p.m., five of the boys piled into a Toyota Prius parked on Modjeska Summit Road, while another went to Chandra’s residence and rang the bell several times, investigators said. The youth then ran to the Prius.

    Instead, it was the home of Chandra. Authorities say evidence shows he “chased after the Prius” in his Infiniti sedan, according to a District Attorney’s Office statement.

    CHP Officer Juan Quintero alleged that the defendant bore down on the teens’ vehicle at high speed on Temescal Canyon Road and rammed the car, causing it to spin out of control and slam into a tree.

    Family members told reporters that the boys were fleeing out of fear and were trying to avoid Chandra at the time.

    Witnesses followed Chandra back to his residence and alerted CHP officers, who arrested him roughly four hours after the collision.

    According to court records, he has an unresolved misdemeanor case for alleged battery on a cohabitant and child endangerment.

    https://www.pe.com/2020/02/21/man-ac...ds-not-guilty/

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    Prosecutor: Defendant in deaths of 3 boys in Temescal Valley ‘used his car as a weapon’

    Brian Rokos

    Anurag Chandra, incensed at being the victim of a teenage prank, was not content to run his agitators’ car off the road, a prosecutor said.

    Instead, after briefly forcing the boys to stop, Chandra made a U-turn and tailed the six close friends at speeds up to 99 mph before ramming their car at 88 mph on Temescal Canyon Road in Temescal Valley on Jan. 19, 2020, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham told jurors on Tuesday, April 18, during his opening statement in Chandra’s murder trial.

    Their car careened into a tree and pole, killing Daniel Hawkins, 16, of Corona; Drake Ruiz, 16, of Corona; and Jacob Ivascu, 16, of Riverside. The three others — Sergio Campusano, 18, Joshua Hawkins, 13, and Joshua Ivascu, 14 — suffered broken bones and other injuries.

    “The kids didn’t have a chance,” Beecham said in Superior Court in Riverside, where family members of the boys attended the trial.

    Chandra has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and sentencing enhancements of multiple murders and causing great bodily injury. District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a court filing that he is not seeking the death penalty.

    Chandra’s attorney, David Wohl, declined to make an opening statement Tuesday.

    Beecham’s statement provided new details of the day of the crash.

    The boys were having a sleepover at the Hawkins home. They were playing a game of hot potato, and whoever was holding the rugby ball when a timer hit zero had to perform a dare, Beecham said. The loser — in this case, Joshua Ivascu — had a choice of jumping into the swimming pool fully clothed or ringing a home’s doorbell and running away.

    Ivascu chose ding dong ditch.

    “These are teenage boys doing teenage boy stuff,” Beecham said.

    The boys piled in the 2002 Toyota Prius, with Campusano driving, and stopped in front of Chandra’s home on Mojeska Summit Road. Ivascu went up to the door with his brother filming, mooned his friends, turned and, in an image shown to jurors, gave a thumb’s up. But when he gingerly knocked, his friends, unimpressed, told him to ring the doorbell. He did, once, climbed back in the car and the boys drove away, Beecham said.

    But first, Jacob Ivascu, in another image shown to jurors, videotaped Chandra walking out the door.

    “There was no provocation on the part of these boys,” Beecham argued. “You might be thinking that was the end of it. But no.”

    Chandra caught up to them as they were headed north on the two-lane Temescal Canyon Road, where he drove into the southbound lane and pulled alongside the boys, their cars making contact, Beecham said. Campusano stopped the car and made a U-turn. But Chandra followed and nearly hit 100 mph in a 40 mph zone, Beecham said, citing records from the “black box” in Chandra’s 2019 Infiniti Q50.

    The boys’ car was traveling about 63 mph when it was struck from behind at about 10:30 p.m., Beecham said.

    The prosecutor said evidence will show that Chandra drove slowly past the crash site before heading home.

    “He used his car as a weapon and aimed it at them. That’s what we call premeditated murder,” Beecham said.

    Chandra was not hard to find. For one, a witness who got a description of Chandra’s car followed a trail of fluid to his home. And the collision had separated Chandra’s front license plate from his car.

    California Highway Patrol officers attempted to get Chandra to come out of his home, Beecham said, but he failed to answer the door when they arrived at about 11 p.m. At 2:19 a.m., Chandra called 911 to report people with flashlights banging on his door; he was told those people were CHP officers who wanted to talk with him.

    He finally emerged at 2:46 a.m. and was arrested.

    Beecham said Chandra offered his version of events in a recorded jailhouse call.

    Chandra said someone knocked on his door, and that after he went outside, decided to go get gasoline and have his car washed. As Chandra drove, according to Beecham, he said someone threw a rock at his car. He then decided to go home because he had left his cell phone there. He then noticed someone “not driving properly,” and there was a crash. He said he didn’t call 911 because he didn’t have his phone.

    Testimony is expected to begin Wednesday. The three boys who survived the crash are on the prosecution’s witness list.

    The trial is expected to last through April 28.

    https://www.pressenterprise.com/2023...-a-weapon/amp/
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

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    California man guilty of killing 3 after doorbell prank

    AP

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California man accused of killing three teenage boys by intentionally ramming their car after they played a doorbell-ringing prank on him was found guilty Friday of murder.

    Anurag Chandra was convicted in a Riverside County courtroom of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.

    “The murder of these young men was a horrendous and senseless tragedy for our community. I thank the jury for their verdict. This is an important step toward justice,” county District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement.

    Chandra’s attorney, David Wohl, did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

    The victims, who were all 16 years old, were among six teens inside a Toyota Prius on Jan. 19, 2020 when Chandra intentionally rammed their vehicle off the road and fled, prosecutors said.

    The Prius’ driver lost control and the sedan slammed into a tree in Temescal Valley, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

    The friends had dared one boy to either jump into a pool at night or play “ding dong ditch.”

    Chandra, who didn’t know the teens, testified at trial that one of the boys rang his doorbell and exposed his buttocks before running away, according to The Riverside Press-Enterprise. Chandra testified that he followed because he feared for his family’s safety and wanted to express his anger. He said he was “extremely, extremely mad” from the prank.

    Chandra also testified that he drank 12 beers in the hours before the crash, the newspaper reported. He said he did not plan to crash into the Prius and testified that he did not stop after rear-ending the sedan because he did not realize anyone had been injured — even though he admitted under cross-examination that he had been driving 99 mph (159 kph) before the collision.

    The crash killed Daniel Hawkins of Corona; Drake Ruiz of Corona; and Jacob Ivascu of Riverside, according to the Riverside County coroner’s office.

    Sergio Campusano was the Prius’ 18-year-old driver at the time. He and then-13-year-olds Joshua Hawkins and Joshua Ivascu survived the crash. They testified at the trial and were in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

    Chandra already was facing criminal charges in connection with alleged domestic violence in 2020 when the killings occurred.

    https://apnews.com/article/californi...fdd5540523c10f

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    Imagine being so psycho that you murder three kids + throw your entire life away over being ding-dong-ditched.

  6. #6
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    Chandra is scheduled to be sentenced 7/14/23 at 1:30 PM PST

    https://jimspub.riversidesheriff.org...kno=202002826G
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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    Temescal Valley man gets life sentence for murdering 3 teens, injuring 3 in ding-dong ditch car chase

    Brian Rokos

    Right to the end, Anurag Chandra refused to say the two words the families of his victims most wanted to hear: I’m sorry.

    Chandra did not look at those who were making victim impact statements or address the court himself on Friday, July 14, before he was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for murdering three teenagers and critically injuring three others in a traffic collision he caused after they had played ding-dong ditch at his Temescal Valey home.

    Jacob Ivascu, 16, of Riverside and 16-year-old Corona residents Daniel Hawkins and Drake Ruiz died on Jan.19, 2020, when an enraged Anurag Chandra pursued their car on Temescal Canyon Road — at one point driving 99 mph — and slammed into the teens’ car, sending it careening into a tree, authorities said.

    The driver of that car, Sergio Campusano, 18 at the time, Joshua Ivascu, 14, and Joshua Hawkins, 13, suffered broken bones and other injuries.

    The boys were described as inseparable.

    Chandra, 45, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder on April 28.

    On Friday in Superior Court in Riverside, he was sentenced to life terms for each of the murder counts. Those will be served at the same time, Judge Valerie Navarro ruled. He was also sentenced to seven years for each of the attempted murder counts.

    Chandra, who testified in his defense with no other witnesses to counter the prosecution’s case, had bragged about the multi-million dollar deal he brokered with Disney for the Buena Park company where he worked and worried that a conviction would hurt his income. He said he wasn’t trying to kill anyone and crashed into the teens’ car when it braked suddenly.

    “We have seen no remorse, no contrition from him,” Craig Hawkins, the father of Joshua and Daniel, told the judge. “The only thing that he seems to regret is the alleged money he thinks he would have made over the last three years or so while he has been in jail. Like money can compete with a life.

    “The light never seemed to go on that he did something wrong. He needs to repent and acknowledge what he did,” Hawkins said.

    Senior Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham told the judge that Chandra apologized during his pre-sentencing interview with the Probation Department but quickly added that the trial had been a financial hardship on his family.

    “That’s as much of a backhanded apology as I’ve ever heard,” Beecham said.

    On the night of the crash, the teens drove around the Hawkins’ neighborhood, looking for a home where they could pull the ring-the-doorbell-and-run prank.

    Ivascu went up to the door at 10:15 p.m. on that Sunday, knocked, rang the doorbell and pulled down his pants to “moon” Chandra, who was watching through the blinds. As Chandra went out the front door, Ivascu ran to the car. Chandra testified that he thought the person at his door was a sex offender who had come to assault him, his wife and twin 16-year-old daughters.

    Chandra drove after the teens hoping to “express my anger” but not harm them. The three surviving teens said that Chandra’s car hit theirs from behind a few times, sending it out of control. Chandra then slowly drove past the crash site and went home.

    Chandra’s car lost a license plate in the collision, and the California Highway Patrol used that to find him. A passerby also followed a trail of car fluids to Chandra’s home. Chandra testified that when officers showed up outside his door at about 2 a.m., he had no idea why they were there.

    Chandra’s testimony appeared to hurt his case rather than help it.

    Sometimes, instead of giving short, safe answers to questions from Beecham, Chandra would add, “Mr. Beecham, let me explain …” giving Beecham new openings to question Chandra. At one point, Chandra’s own attorney, David Wohl, objected to his client’s testimony.

    After convicting Chandra, the juror foreman said the panel did not believe much of his testimony and that he seemed worried only about what a conviction would mean to his income.

    “It helped our case,” Joshua Hawkins, now 17 and a student at Centennial High in Corona, said outside court. “All three of my ‘brothers’ got the justice they deserved.”

    Josh Ivascu is now 17 and a student at Woodcrest Christian in Riverside.

    “It’s a great relief to know that justice has finally been served for my two best friends and we don’t have to worry about (Chandra) going out and hurting anybody anymore,” he said after the sentencing.

    The families of the boys all have a deep Christian faith that they said has sustained them through their ordeal. But that faith was tested, they acknowledged in their victim impact statements.

    “One man’s angry, ungodly decision changed our lives forever,” said Drake Ruiz’s mother, Debbie. “When I saw he had no remorse, it made it more difficult to forgive him.”

    Daniel Hawkins’ sister, Sarah, said she can’t shake the memory of seeing the mangled car at the crash site.

    “A big part of the Christian faith is forgiveness. But how do you forgive a person who killed our brother, who has not shown remorse?” she said.

    Ramona Ivascu, the mother of Joshua and Jacob, described her late son as kind, thoughtful and funny.

    “We know Jacob is in heaven forever with his best friends Drake and Jake,” she said.

    While their faith has carried the family, she said, “How do we describe the pain of sitting at our dinner table the last two years looking at an empty chair? There are no words. We are broken.”

    The six boys met in elementary school at Olive Branch Christian Academy in Corona and attended North Point Community Church in Corona. The tragedy and the shocking nature of the crime sent many in the Corona-area communities and the church into mourning and generated headlines across the country.

    Thousands of people turned out for the vigils and funerals. Some people who didn’t know the families nevertheless sent cards, Craig Hawkins said.

    “I think that struck a nerve with people,” he said outside court. “It galvanized our community. Part of it was the death of young people. (They said) it could have been our kids.”

    Several family members said afterward that they were happy that the trial was over. But they acknowledged there is still healing to do.

    “You don’t climb over dead brothers and friends (in the car) and don’t have that affect you for the rest of your life,” Craig Hawkins said.

    Josh Hawkins said the deaths left him without a brother to bounce with on the backyard trampoline or play video games with at the same time that the COVID-19 pandemic limited his ability to visit with friends.

    “I felt like I missed out on a lot of my childhood because my best friends and brother were taken from me,” he said after the sentencing.

    Campusano, now 21 and studying Christian ministries at Azusa Pacific University, said that three years after the crash, there are still times when he plans to share things with three of his friends, momentarily forgetting that they are dead.

    “Then you’d have to snap back into reality,” he said outside court. “One day we will be able to celebrate with them for eternity, which is the hope that we all have.”

    https://www.pressenterprise.com/2023...ley-crash/amp/
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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