Paramount High School student, cousin killed in hit-and-run

PARAMOUNT, Calif. (KABC) -- Two cousins were fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver in Paramount on Sunday.

Vanessa Ochoa, 21, was in town from Atlanta, Georgia, to visit her grandparents.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Ochoa and her cousin, Alex Olguin, 17, were walking down a street from one relative's home to another when a car struck them.

Joshua Shelton was driving southbound on Downey Avenue at approximately 2 a.m. when he hit the cousins and fled the scene. He later abandoned the car at Downey Avenue and Artesia Boulevard.

Ochoa died at the scene, and Olguin was transported to St. Francis Medical Center in critical condition, where she later died from her injuries.

The family said the two cousins were inseparable when the older one was in town.

"Vanessa looked at her like a little sister and treated her that way. Every time she came over for vacation, they were always together. They did everything together since they were young," uncle Martin Guerra said.

Shelton surrendered to authorities and was being held on $50,000 bail. He was booked on vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.

Ochoa's family says she was in college studying to be a social worker. Olguin had just finished her junior year at Paramount High School. The family has set up a GoFundMe page for donations to help with the cousins' funeral expenses.