Three girls killed in a hit-and-run while trick-or-treating on Halloween were identified by coroner's officials on Saturday as friends and family mourned their loss.
Twins Lexi and Lexandra Perez and their childhood friend Andrea Gonzalez, all 13, died Friday night when someone in an SUV struck them in a crosswalk about a block away from their home in Santa Ana.
The driver ditched the Honda CR-V about three blocks away before running off, police said.
Mourners, meanwhile, left candles, flowers, stuffed animals and notes on Saturday at Old Grand and Fairhaven avenues, near where the girls were hit.
"He shattered the dreams of my daughters and their friend," said Cynthia Huerta, the mother of the twins.
Brenda Gonzalez said she was very close with her sister, Andrea, and was angry at the driver responsible.
"I bought her costume," Brenda Gonzalez said through tears. "I felt like she was mine. I took care of her since day one.
Luis Perez Huerta, Andrea's brother, was angry.
"They don't deserve to live or be free," he said, before breaking down in tears. "They need to pay for what they did."
The twins' aunt Magaly Huerta placed pictures at a growing memorial.
"They came into this world together and they left together," she said. "They were great. They were really good girls, really happy, really outgoing girls that always wanted to help everyone."
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Lexi wanted to be a veterinarian. Her sister loved kids and wanted to be a teacher. Andrea had been friends with the twins since the third grade.
"It's hard," Ashley Jimenez, 11, who knew the girls since she was 6 years old. "Now they're gone."
Family friend Jim Stevens said the family set up a Facebook page to raise money for the funerals.
"Right now, it's just too hard for everybody," he said. "On a night where people are supposed to have fun, but in the end, just ending like this ... it's just too much and terrible."
Joe Weatherley had driven by before the crash and commented to his wife about the lack of lighting on the street.
"It’s just sad," he said. "For them to do what they did and take off, that is cruel. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families."
Police were searching for a driver and possibly two passengers who were inside a Honda CR-V, with significant front-end damage, that police found abandoned at a nearby strip mall Friday night.
Weatherley's wife, Rose, placed stuffed animals and flowers at the makeshift memorial.
"This is someone’s children, someone’s sister, someone’s friend," Rose Weatherley said. "It just touches my heart."
NBC4's Melissa Etezadi and Katherine Hafner contributed to this report.
