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 Jaquinn Ramone Bell was arrested on Sunday at a Motel 6 in
Stanton, California, not far from where the girls were hit in a
crosswalk. He was also charged with driving on a suspended license
and fleeing the scene of a crime, Orange County prosecutors said.
Bell, 31, faces a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison if
convicted at trial. His arraignment was postponed until Dec. 16 at
the request of a defense attorney during a brief hearing in Orange
County Superior Court.
Twin sisters Lexia and Lexandra Perez and their friend Andrea
Gonzales, all 13, were wearing costumes and carrying bags of candy
as they crossed a street in Santa Ana, some 40 miles southeast of
Los Angeles, when they were struck by the SUV on Friday evening.
 The driver did not stop to help the dying girls, police say, and all
three were pronounced dead at the scene, triggering an outpouring of
grief in working class Santa Ana and across Southern California.
Authorities say Bell had been driving with two children in the black
SUV when he struck the girls, and abandoned the vehicle, which had a
damaged front end from the accident, near the scene on Friday night.
His mother and half-sister were also initially arrested, but later
released when they were cleared of involvement in the collision.
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Orange County Deputy District Attorney Keith Burke said police were
still investigating the incident.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Bell, who was being held on $1
million bail, has a criminal record dating back to 2009 and that his
probation has been revoked seven times since then.
Bell's attorney could not be reached for comment following the
hearing.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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California
man charged with vehicular manslaughter in Halloween hit-and-run
