A candlelight vigil will be held Wednesday night in memory of three sisters and their mother, who were tragically killed along with two close family friends on July 12 while driving home to Southern California from Texas.
The vigil for Karly Perez, 42, of Banning and her three daughters, Olivia, 12, Emalynn, 11, and Giana, 8, is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Centennial Park in Menifee, according to local news reports. The park is where the girls played softball. The young athletes were honored in a Facebook post by Menifee Girls Softball.
Friends Karly Perez and Heather Ventura clown around (inset). Lucas Tejada, left, Giana Perez (behind Lucas), Emalynn Perez, Olivia Perez and Ventura's stepdaughter Alyssa.
(Nick Ventura)
“The three girls, naturally shy, came to life 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 all.”
The fatal crash also claimed the lives of Perez's friend, Heather Ventura, 37, of Upland, and her 13-year-old son, Lucas Tejada, according to the Pima County, Arizona, medical examiner.
Nick Ventura told The Times that his sister and Perez had been best friends for more than 10 years and supported each other like sisters, coordinating whenever they needed to get the kids to school or sporting events.
“They were a family unit,” Ventura said. “It was a very beautiful thing.”
Ventura said his nephew aspired to be a chef and was a fan of British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, so much so that he traveled with his mother to try steak Wellington at Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen in San Diego County. A photo of Lucas shows him in front of a kitchen stove, wearing a Hell's Kitchen chef's jacket and smiling.
Lucas Tejada was a fan of Chef Gordon Ramsay.
(Nick Ventura)
“But he was also a normal kid who liked to play video games,” Ventura said.
He said he bought a gaming console during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic so he and Lucas could play games together.
Ventura said the two families had traveled to Texas to visit Heather's stepdaughter, Alyssa, who was also very close to all of the children. They were returning from the trip when they were involved in the fatal crash.
The tragic accident occurred on the evening of July 12 in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 at mile marker 33 near Quartzsite, Arizona, according to a statement from Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Graves said a Ford F-550 flatbed pickup truck was traveling west in the No. 1 lane when it failed to slow down due to traffic that had stopped for a highway paving project.
“As a result, the Ford pickup truck collided with the rear of a Chevrolet Traverse that was carrying six people,” Graves said. “The Traverse was then pushed into a jeep-type passenger vehicle and then into two other vehicles.”
He said the first three vehicles involved in the crash caught fire. The occupants of the Chevrolet Traverse, which included Perez and his three daughters, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Graves said the driver of the Ford truck was not injured.
“He was not cited at that time, although we are consulting with the La Paz County District Attorney’s Office about possible charges,” he said.
Kasandra Tunchez, the girls' aunt, told KTLA that her nieces were intelligent and respectful.
“Those were the stars of our world,” he said. “Now they are gone and all we have are memories.”
Tunchez said the family had come together to support his brother, Vicente Perez, as he mourns the loss of his wife and children.
