JOSHUA WYMYCZAK
Photo Editor
Alcohol, drugs and high speeds were the probable cause of a fatal rollover accident on Pacific Coast Highway on Tuesday night that closed all but one lane for hours.
Fives students from Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks, each 17 years old, were on their way home from a concert in Hollywood when the driver, Cody James Murphy, lost control of a 2007 Subaru Impreza on PCH between Encinas Canyon and Broad Beach roads and died at the scene.
The car overturned multiple times and landed upside down, according to Sgt. Phillip Brooks of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. PCH was partially closed until 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.
A female sitting in the back seat was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center with head trauma and remained in critical condition as of Wednesday.
Two males seated next to her were taken by ambulance, each with broken hips. The male sitting in the front passenger seat was examined at the scene and suffered minor injuries, according to Brooks.
The passengers admitted all five in the car had been drinking, including the driver, throughout the evening. The students had gone out to Hollywood for a concert and stopped at the Santa Monica Pier on their way home, where more alcohol was consumed.
Found in the vehicle was an empty bottle of Jägermeister, an empty medical marijuana container and a glass pipe, Brooks said.
“There are cars lined up on either side of PCH and the roads are very narrow and windy,” Pepperdine senior Mandela Schumacher-Hodge said. “With so many restaurants along the water there are going to be people leaving after having a few drinks and it’s already a road that you have to be more careful on.”
Murphy was a junior at NPHS, and he played on the school’s varsity football team.
“The whole school has been fairly subdued all day,” said NPHS principal Athol Wong. “Students are concerned about their injured friends and we are lucky to have support from many volunteers in the community.”
Sequoia Middle School sent volunteers to set up grief counseling for students who were having trouble coping with the tragedy.
“We primarily allowed students to grieve and support each other,” Wong said. “There have been large pieces of butcher paper in the quad all day for students to write messages on.”
A parent from NPHS has set up a memorial fund for the family, however funeral arrangements have not yet been organized.
04-10-2008
