2 Killed in Fiery Lamborghini Crash in S.F. Valley Were Male Driver, 25, and Female Passenger, 19

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office on Thursday identified a young couple as the two people killed in a high-speed, fiery crash involving a luxury car in the Sepulveda Basin the previous night.

Joel David White, 25, was behind the wheel of a 2016 Lamborghini that was speeding westbound on Burbank Boulevard when it collided with a 2018 Jeep Cherokee near Havyenhurst Avenue about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Authorities said the Lamborghini was traveling at speeds above 100 mph at the time of the crash, and the impact of the collision caused the driver to lose control. The car slammed into trees before splitting into parts and bursting into flames, the release stated. White was ejected from the vehicle. Both he and the passenger — his girlfriend, 19-year-old Luiza Vaagnovna Karakhanyan — were pronounced dead at the scene. Alexander Lopez, who spoke with White about an hour and a half before the deadly crash, said his friend was supposed to pick him up at Los Angeles International Airport that night.

“I texted him, I texted him and he didn’t get back to me,” Lopez told KTLA. “He’s such a nice guy. Always picks up the phone, and when he doesn’t … he always call back.” Friends said the two were photographers and described them as creative, bright souls. Karakhanyan was a student at UCLA, according to her Instagram account. White worked for a luxury car rental company which owned the expensive car he was driving. “It’s not like him to be – he doesn’t usually … drive like that,” Lopez said. “I don’t know what was going on at the time.” A witness who was on her way home from her son’s baseball game when she happened to drive by the crash site told KTLA she saw one of the bodies under the car.

A number of good Samaritans stopped to help, including a woman who appeared to be caressing the deceased person’s head and holding the hand, Janie Landeros recalled. “Horrific,” she said, fighting back tears. “I was devastated.” Landeros described the fiery wreck as the worst she’s ever seen. “You could see the flames. The traffic was backed up. You could see the car but you couldn’t tell what type of car it was,” she said. The Lamborghini was totaled in the crash. The mangled wreck was towed away on a flatbed truck overnight, but debris from the car could still be seen strewn about the side of the road the following morning, video showed. The Jeep driver received minor injuries — mostly cuts and bruises — and remained at the crash site. He was cooperating with investigators, according to LAPD. Police are still looking into the crash, and anyone with information is asked to call Officer Garcia at 818-644-8117 or Crime Stoppers at 877-527-3247. KTLA’s Alberto Mendez and Morgan Ball contributed to this story.