A 14-year-old girl who was struck and killed in a suspected alcohol-fueled crash on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach last weekend was identified by authorities on Tuesday, May 28.
For update, see: Repeat drunken-driver charged with murder in death of 14-year-old
Rosenda Elizabeth Smiley, of Rialto, was in the area near the Balboa Fun Zone on Saturday when she was struck by a vehicle driven by Joseph Alcazar, 30, of Fontana, according to the Newport Beach Police Department. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another man and a child were in the vehicle with Alcazar, who remained at the scene. Information on the passengers was not available.
He was arrested on suspicion of homicide and cruelty to a child; the latter accusation was related to a child in the suspect’s vehicle, said Sgt. Steve Oberon.
By Tuesday morning, dozens of flowers, candles and notes of remembrance had been placed at a growing makeshift memorial on a sidewalk near the scene of the crash.
For more, see: 14-year-old girl fatally struck on Balboa Peninsula
Additional details on the circumstances of the crash were still under investigation and not released Tuesday by authorities.
