Candlelight Vigil Held for Teens in Deadly Crash

The dump truck driver lost control while getting off the 15 Freeway in the Cajon Pass and landed on a PT Cruiser with five people inside, authorities said

A candlelight vigil was planned Wednesday night for two teens who were killed and three of their classmates who were injured when the car they were in was hit by a dump truck off a Southern California freeway.

The vigil was for 16-year-old John Anthony Cabrera Jr., of Phelan, and 18-year-old Nicole Brittney Lyle, of Victorville. They were part of a group of five in a Chrysler PT Cruiser that was struck by the dump truck as the classmates returned from Huntington Beach.

"It’s touching because deep down I know this community had a love for little John and Nicole," a friend at the vigil said. "The amount of people that showed up tonight was pretty awesome, that goes to show how amazing these two were as people."

The crash happened Tuesday night when a dump truck rolled down an embankment and crushed their vehicle in the Cajon Pass.

"I just couldn't process what was going on... great hearts, just super happy people," said friend Adam Brown, who paid tribute to his friends at the crash site.

Cabrera just finished his sophomore year. Lyle had just graduated from Serrano High School in the San Bernardino County community of Phelan, friends said.

The construction dump truck was getting off the southbound 15 Freeway when its brakes failed on the off-ramp of the Highway 138 exit at 11:40 p.m., officials said.

The truck crossed the street, hit a PT Cruiser that was traveling west on Highway 138, carried the car down an embankment and landed on top of it. The crushed PT Cruiser came to a stop in the parking lot of a Shell gas station and Subway restaurant.

Firefighters spent around two hours pulling out the critically injured patients, officials said. According to the San Bernardino Fire Department, firefighters used two heavy-lift tow vehicles to stabilize and lift the dump truck off the vehicle. They used the Jaws of Life to free those trapped inside. 

The dump truck was described as "one of those real big ones" filled with wet cement.

The female driver of the truck was uninjured.

NBC4's Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report.

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