Murder raps filed versus suspect in Angel's death

As Orange County prosecutors Friday filed murder charges against an accused drunken driver, loved ones of the three young people killed – a promising Angels pitcher, a California State University, Fullerton, communications student and an aspiring sports agent – mourned their loss.

Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of San Gabriel, Calif., was charged with three counts of murder, hit and run, and drunken driving in connection with the accident in Fullerton, Calif., early Thursday.

Authorities said Gallo had a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit of 0.08 when he blew through a red light. The Toyota Sienna minivan he was driving, prosecutors said, broadsided a Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Courtney Stewart, 20, killing her, Angels rookie Nick Adenhart, 22, and Henry Pearson, a 25-year-old law student from Manhattan Beach Calif.

Jon Wilhite, 24, also of Manhattan Beach and a former catcher for the Cal State Fullerton Titans, remains in the hospital with injuries.

“This Angel and his two friends were too young to be sent to heaven,” Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at a news conference.

For Friday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox, the Angels wore patches with No. 34 in memory of their teammate, who had pitched an impressive six scoreless innings hours before the fatal accident.

At Cal State Fullerton, the cheer squad, sorority sisters, professors and classmates came together to mourn Stewart, a communications student, former cheerleader and sister in the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

Stewart was remembered as a fun-loving sweetheart with a warm smile and a recognizable laugh who made friends easily.

Classmates such as Bobby Foster, a business marketing student, poured out their grief online by posting status updates to their Facebook pages.

“Such a sweet and charismatic girl, taken away from this cold, heartless world,” he wrote of Stewart. “May we all dry our crying eyes and realize she’s flying with angels in the skies.”

Stewart’s professors said she always sat in the front row beaming a contagious smile.

“She was so beautiful, so bright,” recalled Alana Northrop, who had been Stewart’s political science professor, in a memorial of written comments on a Web page set up by Cal State Fullerton: “There was no stuck-up-ness, she was genuine, a very special person.”

Pearson was an aspiring sports agent who had gone to Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach with Wilhite. Both had played on the baseball team there.

Stewart was driving the foursome to a nightclub they liked to go on Wednesdays because they were 18-and-up nights, friends said.

Stewart’s car had the green light when she drove into the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Lemon Street, police said, when Gallo barreled through his red light at 50 to 65 mph and slammed into the sports car. The speed limit in the area is 35 mph. Everyone in the car except Pearson was wearing their seat belts.Knowing he had caused the crash, prosecutors said, Gallo fled on foot without checking on the victims. He was arrested nearby less than 30 minutes later.

Gallo was driving with a suspended license at the time of the crash. His license had been taken away after a 2006 DUI conviction in Riverside County, for which he was ordered to take alcohol education classes.

When police questioned Gallo for several hours early Friday, he was calm, lucid and answered clearly. “He was very matter of fact,” said Fullerton Police Lt. Kevin Hamilton.

Prosecutors decided to charge Gallo with murder instead of vehicular manslaughter because he was “doing an inherently dangerous act” without regard for the safety of others, Rackauckas said. “When their conduct is this egregious – high speed, high blood alcohol content, priors – it’s more preferable to prosecute as murder.”

If convicted on all counts, Gallo faces a sentence of 55 years to life. (AP)