Funerals set for two killed in crash

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Funerals set for two killed in crash

Family member remembers cousins who perished in fiery freeway wreck involving alleged drunken driver.

 

 

By AMBER WILLARD

 

GLENDALE -- Instead of celebrating his recent acceptance to Burbank High School's basketball team, the family of David Asatryan and his cousin Noel Nersesyan will oversee their burials Thursday.

The two were killed in a car accident last week on the Glendale (2) Freeway, rear-ended by a suspected drunken driver. Two other family members who were in a Toyota Camry, received minor injuries and were helped from the car by passersby, according to California Highway Patrol reports.

The Camry caught fire when it was rear-ended by Na Hyan Kwak, 26, and sideswiped another car, officials said.

David and Noel died from burns and suffered smoke inhalation, a coroner's spokesman said Tuesday.

"Their bodies were very badly burned," said Scott Carrier, spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

Kwak, who lives in La Crescenta, was being held Tuesday on two counts of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. Her husband was arrested when he later drove to the accident scene, allegedly also under the influence.

David, 15, lived in Burbank with his parents, and Noel, 32, lived in Tujunga with his father. They were on their way to Tujunga after visiting a family friend.

"It's really painful every day waking up," said Stephen Nersesyan, who is David's uncle and Noel's cousin. "They never had a chance to open their Christmas presents. They're still under the tree."

The two had moved to the area from Armenia a little more than a year ago, family members said.

"They were looking for something better," said Stephen Nersesyan, who is a Glendale city employee and had arranged for David to work as a volunteer in a city library, shelving books.

Noel was taking English classes and "trying to get his life started," his cousin said. Noel and his father, who was riding in the car's front seat when the Dec. 20 crash occurred, had moved to Tujunga a few months ago after living with family members.

"I had to tell his mother," Stephen Nersesyan said of Noel, whose mother still lives in Armenia. The family is trying to make arrangements for her to come to Noel's funeral.

Family members would like to see Kwak charged with two counts of murder, but prosecutors have said murder charges are usually only filed in a case like this if the suspect has a prior record of similar or serious offenses.

"She has taken two innocent lives. I will do everything I can to get justice," Nersesyan said Tuesday afternoon.

Funeral proceedings for the cousins will start tonight at 6:30, with a viewing at St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church at 500 S. Central Ave. Their funeral will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the church, followed by burial at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Hollywood Hills.

"David has a little sister ... and the only way I can comfort her is to say her brother and cousin were really needed in heaven," Nersesyan said.