Anurag Chandra, 45, was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing three teenagers and attempting to kill three more. The man deliberately drove his car into the vehicle in which the boys were moving, because earlier one of them rang his door as a joke.
The court’s verdict was read out on Friday, ABC7 reported. Anurag Chandra, from the city of Corona, California, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In April, a court found the man guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. Riverside County Prosecutors say the 45-year-old deliberately caused a car crash that killed three 16-year-olds and injured three other teenagers. After that, he fled the scene.
He killed three teenagers, he wanted to express his anger
On January 19, 2020, at night, six teenagers spent time together. As a game, one of them was challenged to call one of the houses. So they drove the car to Chandra’s house, which they didn’t know, and one of them rang the bell and ran to the vehicle, after which they all drove away. In court, the convicted person testified that he had decided to follow them because he feared for his own and his family’s safety and wanted to express his anger. He stressed that he was “extremely angry” about their prank. The man intentionally rammed the teenagers’ vehicle, causing the car to crash into a tree. Drake Ruiz, 16, Daniel Hawkins and Jacob Ivascu were killed, and three others were injured, including the victims’ two younger brothers, aged 13 and 14, and the 18-year-old driver. According to the prosecution, Chandra fled the scene and returned home without informing the police.
Local newspaper The Press-Enterprise reported that Chandra testified that he had drunk 12 beers prior to the incident and that he did not plan to hit and did not stop after the accident because he did not realize that someone had been injured. The man’s defense wanted a new trial, claiming that Chandra had no intention of killing, but merely made hasty and impulsive decisions. The court, however, did not agree with this argument.
According to media reports, Chandra showed no sign of remorse at the reading of the verdict on Friday. Family members of the teenagers were present in the courtroom. “It won’t bring our boys back, but we believe justice has been done,” said Jacob’s father, Alex Ivascu.
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