Man charged in hit-run Halloween teen deaths

Prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against a driver charged with fleeing in his SUV after fatally striking three Southern California teenage girls as they were trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Jaquinn Bell, 31, was charged with three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, one felony count of hit-and-run with permanent injury or death, and one misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license, the Orange County district attorney's office said.

Bell, who recently pleaded guilty to a separate hit-and-run, was scheduled for arraignment later in the day but it was postponed to Dec 16. He was ordered held on more than $1 million bail. If convicted, he faces up to 17 years in state prison.

Jaquinn Ramone Bell Pic: AP

The complaint also included sentencing enhancement allegations of personally inflicting great bodily injury and fleeing the scene after committing a vehicular manslaughter.

The victims of the Halloween night crash in the city of Santa Ana were twin sisters Lexi and Lexandra Perez and a friend, Andrea Gonzalez, all 13 years old.

Police said the girls were crossing a street in a marked crosswalk when they were struck by a black Honda SUV that left the scene without stopping.

Authorities believe Bell fled with his two teenage children after ditching the damaged car in a nearby parking lot. He was arrested on Sunday at a motel in the city of Stanton.

Bell pleaded guilty in August to misdemeanor counts of child abuse, driving under the influence and hit-and-run with property damage, online court records show. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, three years' probation and child-abuse treatment programs, a court spokeswoman said.

He has prior convictions for reckless driving, spousal injury and violation of a protective order, records show.

"He should've got a stiffer sentence than he had," said John Dunton, a spokesman for the Gonzalez family. "If he would've been in jail, these victims would be alive today."

Trick-or-treaters were also injured and killed in collisions in New York, Florida, Washington state and the nearby Orange County city of Irvine, where 65-year-old John Alcorn died after he was struck by a car. His 4-year-old son was in critical but stable condition.

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