O.C. Crash Kills 3 After Wedding

A brother, sister and friend were in a speeding car on the Santa Ana Freeway in Tustin.

By Mai Tran and Claudia Zequiera
Times Staff Writers

April 5, 2005

Three young people on their way home from a wedding were killed late Sunday after their speeding car spun out of control and flipped on a freeway in Tustin, officials said.

Allen Suh, 22, of Tustin was driving his sister, Jennifer, 20, of Huntington Beach, and friend James Pak, 16, of Tustin after the three volunteered to help clean up the wedding reception hall in Cerritos, then joined friends at a coffee shop.

They were two exits from Allen Suh's home when they crashed. Suh was driving his Infiniti sedan south "at a high rate of speed" about 11:15 p.m. on the Santa Ana Freeway just south of the Newport Avenue exit, California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Johnson said. A sudden turn of the wheel threw the car into a clockwise spin, Johnson said.

The car hurtled across the freeway and mangled a guardrail before smashing into a concrete wall and flipping, Johnson said.

Jennifer Suh, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the front passenger seat and later died at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, authorities said. The other two victims were wearing seat belts and died at the scene.

Autopsies Monday showed that all three died of massive trauma, coroner's officials said. Toxicology reports are expected in four weeks.

Friends and relatives said the three had been at a wedding of one of Jennifer Suh's childhood friends. Suh had spent weeks putting together a slide show for the couple and picked a special outfit for the occasion: a glittery pink cardigan and brown lace skirt. Her 11-year-old sister, Barbara, had curled her hair.

Pak played a part in a skit about how the couple met.

"We were having a really good time," said Hana Cha, 20, of Fullerton, who attended the wedding and joined the coffeehouse gathering at Cerritos Town Center.

"They were just too young for this to happen," said Cha, her face red from crying.

Jennifer Suh was a sophomore majoring in psychology at UC Irvine, and she aspired to a career working with children. She helped pay her way through school as a private tutor and as a hostess at BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in Tustin.

She was a piano player for 10 years, and she enjoyed reading and tennis.

"She was really busy, but she always had time for family," said Josephine Chung, 19, of Diamond Bar, who grew up with Suh. "She was dedicated to the things she loved."

Allen Suh had graduated from DeVry University in computer science and was working as a teller at Wells Fargo.

"They're the typical siblings who always argue and make each other cry but they really look out for each other," said a cousin, Carolyn Nelson, 25, of Venice. "He was always the big brother for Jennifer."

Allen Suh enjoyed basketball, but his newest passion was the black Infiniti his parents helped him buy last year.

"It was his baby," Nelson said, adding that he was a safe driver. "He loved cars."

Suh often drove James Pak around because the teen didn't have his license.

At James' home in Tustin, his parents and 13-year-old sister, Susan, remained secluded as family members and friends gathered outside and sympathized.

"There's no way I can describe their feelings right now," said an aunt, Rebekah Lee, of James' parents. "It's terrible."

Officials at Beckman High School in Irvine, where James was a sophomore in honors classes, said he played the viola in the school orchestra and was on the tennis team. The school planned to notify students of James' death today and have counselors available.

Classmate Michelle Kim, 16, sobbed Monday afternoon after hearing the news. She and James had been in a study group, she said, but he was also a confidant.

"He was very smiley and always willing to lend an ear," she said. "I talked to him a lot about my problems, and he was always there to help me."

Friends said all three victims were members of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Irvine, where they volunteered 70 hours a month as ministers.

"We believe we'll meet each other in paradise," Chung said