3 teens, 1 pregnant, die in fiery L.A. crash

LOS ANGELES -- A loud crash and an eruption of flames brought neighbors from their homes and into a scene of desperation: a dead pregnant teenager behind the wheel of a wrecked car, two other dead teens nearby and two survivors pleading for help.

The car was smashed against a tree and engulfed in fire -- the culmination of what authorities say was a high-speed encounter between two vehicles in which one of the drivers was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Police responded to the scene on Wednesday night, and one day later were unsure of what prompted the crash. They initially suspected a street race or road rage but have since retracted those theories. A press release indicates one vehicle struck another and caused 19-year-old Cristyn Cordova to lose control of her car in the Eagle Rock area.

Cordova, who police said was eight months pregnant, died at the scene.

The body of her sister, 16-year-old Toni Cordova, was found in the back seat of the crushed Nissan Maxima. A family friend, 19-year-old Jason Timothy Gomez Hernandez, was killed when he was ejected from the car.

Two other passengers -- 19-year-old Carlos Alberto Campos and 15-year-old Andrew Cordova, the driver's brother -- were thrown from the car and were hospitalized in critical condition, one with a severed hand and leg, another with a leg severed at the hip, Officer April Harding said Thursday.

Rostislav Shnayder, the 19-year-old driver of the other vehicle, was booked on suspicion of murder.

Friends and neighbors of the victims mourned their deaths Thursday.

Some gathered at the street where the wreck occurred and left flowers and candles at the foot of the tree that nearly split in two.

A couple miles away, about a dozen teenagers gathered at the Cordova home and wrote messages expressing their grief on large pieces of poster board. The youths, visibly shaken by the news of the crash, declined to comment.

A longtime neighbor, Tom Krumal, said the Cordovas were "a good fun family" with kids who skateboarded on the shady street and held get-togethers on the Fourth of July and Christmas.

Officers and witnesses to the crash said flames poured from the Nissan after it hit the tree. Police found victims and severed body parts in the street when they arrived.

Armand Akopian told KFWB radio he was at a nearby gas station and grabbed a fire extinguisher but could not rescue any of the car's occupants.

"I tried to save somebody, but I couldn't do anything because most of them were dead," he said. "It's a horrible thing."

---- Associated Press Writer Denise Petski in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

AP-WS-08-28-08 2325EDT