Background: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department footage from crash that killed five teenagers in Georgia over Labor Day weekend 2023. YouTube screengrab WIXA. Inset: Emanuel Esfahani booking photo Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department.
Homicide charges have been filed against a 20-year-old man accused of killing five teenagers during a deadly crash on a Georgia highway over Labor Day weekend.
Emanuel Rene Esfahani was arrested on Tuesday and is being held without bail, according to the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office. Esfahani was racing a pick-up truck along I-85 earlier this month and while speeding at 107 miles per hour, he slammed into another truck carrying five young passengers ranging in age from 16 to 18 years old, police said.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office alleged that the high-speed and reckless crash from racing in the street led Esfahani's vehicle to careen into the truck carrying the teenagers, which was then launched off a sky-ramp and dropped 37 feet to a ramp below before rolling over a barrier, according to Atlanta NBC affiliate WIXA.
A review of online court records by Law&Crime on Thursday confirmed that in addition to five felony counts of homicide by vehicle in the first degree, Esfahani of Lawrenceville, Georgia, also faces single misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, racing on highways and streets, speeding, improper lane changes and a seat belt violation. Esfahani's bond was denied on Thursday, police said.
Local news station WANF reported that the 20-year-old was driving an Infiniti G35 while racing a Toyota Tacoma around 4 a.m. on Labor Day. Both drivers were speeding. Police identified the driver of the Toyota Tacoma as 18-year-old Hung Nguyen.
Nguyen had five passengers in the car with him, all but 1 of whom died in the crash. In addition to Nguyen, local police identified the other deceased passengers as Katie Gaitan, 17, and Ashley Gaitan, 16; Coral Lorenzo, 17, and Abner Santana, 19.
According to The Associated Press, 18-year-old Jonathan Reyes was the only person in Nguyen's Tacoma who survived the wreck.
As they raced, a slower vehicle caused Esfahani and Nguyen to split up around it and this was when, police said, Esfahani, already rocketing down the highway, drove into an emergency lane before swerving to avoid a box truck, crossing lanes and crashing into Nguyen.
The 18-year-old's vehicle went hurtling over the sky-ramp barrier from there and rolled over before falling onto another ramp below it. Esfahani had inadvertently performed a P.I.T. Maneuver, hitting the rear tire of Nguyen's Tacoma with his car, which police said was what forced it to be raised off the ground and ultimately flip over. Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA reported that Esfahani's vehicle also jumped a barrier during the crash and that he landed in a creek. He also reportedly suffered multiple broken bones.
Police have not indicated whether charges will be brought against a third driver who hit the teenager's truck after it fell from the ramp.
Auner Amexquita, father of passenger Abner Santana. told WANF his son "never gave me any trouble."
"I really miss my son. I really miss him," Amexquita said.
