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Fatal Sleep Over
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LAist has been following the story of the Compton pre-teens killed on a joyride organized at a slumber party.
The Los Angeles Times reports that investigators are trying to determine how "the driver — a pajama-clad 13-year-old girl — was able to get her mother's car keys, and whether she had taken the four-door white Mazda on previous joyrides, as several friends reported.
The collision occurred about 6:20 p.m. Saturday after several youths had gathered for a slumber party at one of their homes, said authorities, who reported that at least two of the victims were wearing pajamas.
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Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Ralph Miller told the Times on Monday that "a decision on whether to file criminal charges against the driver or her mother was not expected until late this week, when the results of the probe would be presented to the district attorney's office. The three victims killed in the crash were Clydnesha Lindsey, 12, and Ricky Ward, 13, and Derrius Johnson, 15. The driver of the Mazda, who was not named because she is a juvenile involved in a potential criminal case, suffered minor neck pain; two other passengers sustained a broken arm and a broken leg, Miller said."
Kids today. Whatever happened to the joys of standard sleep-over activities like staying up late, eating junk food, prank calling the cutest boys at school and playing video games in the living room?
Where were the parents to supervise this, apparently, co-ed slumber party?
And where's a local tabloid newspaper when you need one? We can just imagine the headline on the New York Post if this tragedy had occurred in Manhattan.
"Slumber Party of Death"
"Dead Teens in PJs"
We'd even settle for some "Variety-ese"
"The Pajama Shame"
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