A Pepperdine student waits to place flowers on the Four Lights Memorial to honor our four girls Oct. 15. Pepperdine Panhellenic provided flowers and cards to leave by the lanterns for anyone who wanted to leave a message for the girls. Photo by Haylie Ross
Editor’s Note: The Graphic chose to refer to Asha Weir, Deslyn Williams, Niamh Rolston and Peyton Stewart as girls. While they all were over the age of 18, the Graphic chose to use the term girls because “Our Girls,” is how the community has lovingly referred to them.
Three years later, Deslyn’s laugh still echoes in alumna Georgia Puckett’s (’25) dreams and Asha’s wise words serve as the foundation to all she does.
Three years later, Sofia De Belles, Niamh’s childhood best friend, said she sees Niamh within the warm glow of her birthday candles.
Three years later, alumna Bridget Thompson (’24) said she feels Peyton’s presence linger in the background of the memories she has continued to make without her best friends at her side.
Three years later and their hope for justice, once burning bright in the hearts of the girls’ family and friends, has now been stifled into a dimly flickering flame.
Although Oct. 17, 2026 marks the three-year anniversary of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) crash that claimed the lives of four Pepperdine students: Asha Weir, Deslyn Williams, Niamh Rolston and Peyton Stewart, their friends and family continue to advocate for them.
Three years later and the call for justice is still left unanswered
“It’s unbelievable honestly,” Thompson said. “I never thought, when it happened, that three years down the line I’d still be going to court hearings and through all the emotions of hoping and praying my friends get the justice they deserve and right now I think they’re not getting it and that’s really hard to face.”
The Ongoing Fight for Justice
Over the past three years, court proceedings in relation to the Oct. 2023 crash have been marked by repeated delays and uncertainty for the girls’ friends and family. Although trial dates have been scheduled in the past, subsequent postponements have prolonged the process and left those affected waiting for justice.
Each postponement extends the period of uncertainty for the families and friends of the girls, highlighting the personal impact that repeated delays in legal proceedings can have on those seeking any ounce of closure.
“You’re going to give us that tiniest bit of hope that a trial and justice will finally come into play and finally be served for the girls and for their families,” Puckett said. “And then every single time a trial date’s not set, it takes away that hope for justice.”
As each day since the crash passes, Thompson said she feels the voices of her best friends and roommates being silenced.
“As more time goes on the more it feels like they’re being silenced and their names aren’t being heard,” Thompson said. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking because they deserve to be seen and known.”
During the pretrial hearings, De Belles is usually seen sitting alongside Niamh’s parents, who she said are like family to her. Each time she has to go to Van Nuys courthouse, she said she can feel Niamh’s heart break for herself and for her family.
“Even though she’s not with us I know it’s breaking her heart by prolonging this process,” De Belles said. “It puts me in additional pain watching the families just suffer showing up repeatedly for it to be 5 to 10 minutes and they push it back.”
Throughout the past three years, the case has gained national attention given the popularity of defense attorney, Alan Jackson, the defendant, Fraser Michael Bohm, and the ongoing conversation surrounding PCH safety. As the narrative surrounding this case grows, Thompson said she fears the focus is on the defense rather than her best friends.
“If [the headlines] are about the celebrity lawyer or the defendant’s name, that doesn’t mean anything to me,” Thompson said. “I want [the girls’] names to be heard and their stories to be told.”
Puckett echos this sentiment.
“I want justice, and I want repercussions and consequences of his actions to be faced and everything,” Puckett said. “But for me, the focus still is on my friends and their names and their lives and their stories and for their hopes and their dreams and their messages to still be shared out into the world because at the end of the day, they don’t get to share that themselves.”
This photo collage shows friends and sorority sisters of Asha Weir, Deslyn Williams, Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart. Alumna Bridget Thompson (’24) said the girls would spend every moment they could surrounded by each other. Photos courtesy of Bridget Thompson, Charlie Robinson and Georgia Puckett
The Power of Advocacy
While on the journey to justice, friends and families of the girls continue to give them a voice.
Billy Melcher is in his final year of law school at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. He has also volunteered for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for eight years, routinely responding to traffic collisions, most of which occur along PCH.
Melcher was one of the initial first responders on the scene the night of the Oct. 17 crash. Little did he know that night would begin his personal advocacy journey for four girls he never met.
There was something different about that scene compared to the other tragedies Melcher had witnessed and responded to: the kindness and patience of those at the scene with him.
“As a first responder you’re left to deal with everything you saw and everything that you felt while you were seeing it completely on your own,” Melcher said.
Yet Pepperdine was different. The University reached out to the first responders from the night of the crash and invited them to grieve alongside the community. That was when Melcher said he decided to stand as an advocate with the girls.
With his background as a first responder and an interest in law, Melcher, along with alumna Lilly Bradshaw (’23), approached Thompson with the idea to start Justice for Four Angels, a website and Instagram page that serves as a platform to advocate for justice for the girls and PCH safety.
Three Years Without ‘Our Four Lights’
Within the course of three years, birthdays are celebrated, milestones are reached and life continues to change.
De Belles recently celebrated a birthday and she said she and Niamh spent every birthday together since they were 3 years old. Each birthday that inevitably comes around without Niamh blowing out her candles by her side brings a reminder of how much she has lost.
“I would give anything to just celebrate one more birthday with her,” De Belles said.
(From right to left) Sofia De Belles, Niamh Rolston and Jillian Eisenberg celebrate De Belles’ 5th birthday Oct. 5, 2007. De Belles said she and Niamh were inseparable growing up. Photo courtesy of Sofia De Belles
Thompson feels the weight of time heavy on her heart especially during the month of October.
“As every anniversary comes, it’s just a heavy reminder that I won’t get to see them again,” Thompson said. “It’s been three years without them, and it will just continue to be longer.”
October also brings an ominous presence for Puckett.
“No matter the fact that it’s been three years or a year or two years or whatever, you can’t escape how the feeling of October brings all these waves of emotion back,” Puckett said.
Although three years have passed, De Belles said she continues to talk about Niamh every day and cherish the childhood memories they share.
“Everyone who knows me knows I bring her up every day,” Debelles said. “But as time goes on I realize how much of my life she’s missing out on.”
This story was copy edited by Lila Rendel.
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Contact Haylie Ross via email: haylie.ross@pepperdine.edu or via Instagram: @haylierossjournalism