STOCKTON, Calif. - A 13-year-old driver and his 15-year-old passenger were killed after leading California Highway Patrol officers on a high-speed chase Saturday morning.
Zepeda's mother, Eleatha Bennett, says her son was a freshman at Stagg High in Stockton and never got into any trouble.
"He was a very loving kid, honest," Bennett explains. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
CHP reports officers spotted a Honda Accord around 1:45 a.m. near the area of Thornton Rd. and Lucile Rd. driving at a high rate of speed and making unsafe passes.
Officers attempted to pull over the 13-year-old drier, but the boy instead fled and led officers on a high-speed pursuit, according to the CHP.
According to CHP reports, the driver headed south on Pacific Ave. but lost control of the car and left the roadway before crashing into a building near the intersection of Benjamin Holt Dr. and Pacific Ave.
Both the driver and the passenger died as a result of their injuries. Neither was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the CHP.
CHP determined the Honda to be a stolen vehicle.
CHP says that alcohol did not play a role in the collision.
News10/KXTV