Wire reporting: (AP, via LAist)

Los Angeles County prosecutors charged a Valley Village man with murder on Friday in a suspected drunken-driving crash that killed three street vendors outside the North Hollywood Metro station on Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported¹.

Ihor Demianenko, 61, faces murder counts after his minivan left Lankershim Boulevard near Chandler Avenue and struck food stalls used by commuters at the end of the Metro B Line, according to the Times, citing a criminal complaint made public Friday¹. The district attorney's office said his blood-alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit, the Times reported¹.

The women who died were Francesca Krystine Esker, 39, Teodora De Jesus Villalobos, 57, and Maria Angelica Peck, 73, the Times said, attributing the identifications to prosecutors¹. Two other pedestrians were struck, and one remained in serious condition, LAPD Capt. Mike Bland told the Times¹.

The crash happened around 5:55 p.m. Tuesday, CBS News reported, citing the Los Angeles Police Department³. Police said Demianenko was driving at an unsafe speed when the vehicle left the road and hit people on the sidewalk, ABC7 Los Angeles reported after the arrest⁵. CBS said he was held on more than $6 million bail after being arrested on suspicion of three murder counts³.

Demianenko remained hospitalized Friday and did not appear in a Van Nuys courtroom; he is expected to be arraigned Monday, the Times reported¹. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney¹. The Times said California DMV records showed no prior driving convictions or accusations, though he was in a 2024 car accident¹.

CBS News reported that mourners identified two of the vendors as Teodora, known as Doris, and Maria, 73³. Melissa Villalobos, identified as Doris's daughter, told CBS she hoped her mother would be remembered as selfless and hardworking³. Mayor Karen Bass said she was heartbroken for the families, CBS reported³.

LAist carried an Associated Press account of the Wednesday arrest and said Metro stations remained open aside from one closed entrance Tuesday night⁴. What a jury would decide, and Demianenko's response to the charges, were not established in the reports^1,3.