Burbank: Distraught friends, family members remember innocent victims killed in street-racing crash

Thursday, August 5, 2021
BURBANK, Calif. (KABC) -- Overwhelmed by grief, on Wednesday night the mother of Cerain Baker stood over a makeshift memorial honoring her son and two other innocent victims who were killed as the result of a street race in Burbank.

Cerain, a 21-year-old Burbank resident, was featured often in videos produced by his father, well-known comedian Tony Baker.
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"He was the sweetest person I ever encountered," said Amanda Camacho, Cerain Baker's girlfriend. "He was always smiling. Every person he met he impacted. It's going to be crazy to live without him, but I know he'd want us all to be happy and keep working hard."

Also killed in the crash were 20-year-old Jaiden Johnson of Burbank and 19-year-old Natalee Moghadamm of Calabasas.

Burbank: Distraught friends, family members remember innocent victims killed in street-racing crash


"Natalee was one-of-a-kind type of person," her friend Ava Recchia told ABC7 while attending a vigil for the victims Wednesday. "She always would light up a room and she always touched everyone. She made an imprint on every person she was friends with."



Baker, Moghadamm and Johnson were in a Volkswagen whose driver was attempting to make a left turn at the intersection on Glenoaks Boulevard and Andover Drive when they were struck by a car involved in a high-speed street race. The three victims were ejected from the Volkswagen and died at the scene.
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"It just breaks my heart. This kind of racing on Glenoaks has been happening for years and years," said Hilda Lucas, who visited the memorial.

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The force of the impact split the victims' vehicle in half and ignited a fire whose flames engulfed the car's wreckage.

Police say a black Mercedes-Benz and a gray Kia had been speeding side-by-side for several blocks before the collision.
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Everyone involved in the crash remained at the scene. In fact, the driver whose car hit the victims was hospitalized with serious injuries.
"In my 19-year-career, I haven't seen anything like this, personally," said Burbank Police Department Sgt. Emil Brimway. "Not to this magnitude and this level of debris over a two-city block span."

No arrests or charges had been announced as of Thursday afternoon, but that could change due to the street-racing aspect, pending the ongoing investigation.

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