Two teens were charged with murder in connection with an alleged street racing crash near Los Angeles that killed three people, including comedian Tony Baker’s son earlier this month.
Hamlet Arseni Aghajanyan, 19, and an unidentified 17-year-old juvenile were arrested on Aug. 19, both on three counts of murder and one count of reckless driving, according to the Burbank Police Department.
Aghajanyan, behind the wheel of a Kia, and the 17-year-old, driving a Mercedes Benz, were racing on Glenoaks Boulevard when they crashed into a Volkswagen on Aug. 3, according to police. The Volkswagen was not involved in the race.
Cerain Anthony Raekwon Baker, Jaiden Kishon Johnson and Natalee Asal Moghaddam were thrown from the Volkswagen, “sustained serious injuries and were pronounced deceased at the scene,” according to police.
A fourth unidentified victim in the Volkswagen suffered serious injuries but survived.
The victims were all in their early 20s, according to police.
“This tragic and avoidable event was caused by subjects racing vehicles and driving recklessly at very high rates of speed,” the Burbank Police Department said in a statement.
Aghajanyan pleaded not guilty Monday to the charges he faces, NBC Los Angeles reported. He is being held on $6 million bail, according to police, and is next due in court on Oct. 6. An attorney for Aghajanyan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tony Baker has posted on social media about his son almost daily since the crash. He has also frequently shared a Change.org petition to stop illegal street racing in Burbank.
“People have been applauding me for my strength in these painful streets, but the REAL MVP is Cerain’s mother. We all know a mother’s love is next level deep, but she has been amazing moving through this nightmare,” Baker wrote on Twitter Monday.
“I can’t take credit for being strong through this. I am simply existing. I’m not fighting ANYTHING. I don’t resist any waves. If I want to be silly, I go with the flow. If I want to cry, I let it out,” he wrote. “The only things I have been fighting is regrets and what if’s. We miss him.”
