The families of the four sorority girls killed on the Pacific Coast Highway are suing California governments over the tragedy, drawing even more attention to a road that celebrities and officials have been calling a disaster for years.
Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams, who all attended Pepperdine University, were struck and killed by a BMW driver on the Pacific Coast Highway in an area known locally as “Dead Man’s Curve” in October 2023.
In 2015, award-winning actor Rob Lowe criticized Malibu City for its handling of PCH after rapper MC Supreme was killed by a drunk driver on PCH.
‘Malibu’s leadership has almost always been an embarrassment. Exhibit A:’ He tweetedciting and tweeting a story about the rapper’s death.
Filmmaker Michel Shane, who produced I, Robot and Catch Me If You Can, created 21 Miles in Malibu in tribute to his 13-year-old daughter Emily after she was hit by a maniac driver while walking along the main avenue in 2010.
Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams were struck and killed by a BMW driver on the Pacific Coast Highway in an area known locally as ‘Dead Man’s Curve’ in October 2023.
Her parents filed separate lawsuits in Santa Monica Superior Court against Los Angeles County, Malibu, Caltrans, the state of California and the California Coastal Commission.
Now, the victims’ parents have filed separate lawsuits in Santa Monica Superior Court against Los Angeles County, Malibu, Caltrans, the state of California and the California Coastal Commission.
They say the agencies share responsibility for the dangerous road design and for continually failing to implement better safety measures, according to ABC 7.
“For too long, the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu has been and continues to be unsafe for pedestrians and drivers alike. As a result of the defendants’ complacency, too many lives have been needlessly lost,” the families’ attorneys said in a joint statement.
The families hope the lawsuits will force the agencies to “do what they should have done a long time ago, so that no more lives are lost unnecessarily.”
The four Alpha Phi sisters died after the driver, Fraser Michael Bohm, 22, lost control of his vehicle while traveling northbound, causing it to crash into a parked car before hitting the students. A fifth person was also hit but survived.
Dead Man’s Curve, the specific section where they were hit, is a short 21-mile stretch of highway between Las Flores Canyon and Carbon Canyon Roads. More than 50 deaths and nearly 100 serious incidents have taken place on that section of highway from 2013 to 2023, according to ABC 7.
Authorities said a Pepperdine fraternity party was taking place in the area and the victims had been planning to meet up with other people at the time of the tragedy.
Bohm, who escaped the crash uninjured, faces four counts of murder as well as four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. He was released on $4 million bail in October 2023 after pleading not guilty to all charges.
The driver, Fraser Michael Bohm, 22, faces four counts of murder, as well as four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
The four Alpha Phi sisters died after Bohm lost control of her vehicle while traveling north, causing it to crash into a parked car before hitting the students.
His preliminary trial is scheduled to begin on October 9 at the Van Nuys courthouse. According to the graph from Pepperdine University.
His trial is expected to begin in January.
According to her LinkedIn page, in addition to attending Pepperdine, Rolston had also worked as a cheerleading and gymnastics coach, while Asha Weir was a writing tutor at the school in her spare time.
Peyton Stewart had volunteered at a nursing home and completed an internship at TikTok.
Deslyn Williams’ employer paid tribute to her in a heartbreaking Facebook post, saying: “When you receive the saddest news: 21 miles of devastation, a road full of heartbreak.”
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