A man in Southern California, who was accused of killing three teenagers after they had ding dong ditched him in 2020, was found guilty of murder on Friday.
Anurag Chandra was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. He was found guilty of all charges in the Riverside County courtroom, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
County District Attorney Mike Hestrin shared a statement following Chandra’s conviction, saying this was a step towards justice.
“The murder of these young men was a horrendous and senseless tragedy for our community. I thank the jury for their verdict. This is an important step toward justice,” Hestrin said in the statement.
The incident occurred on Jan. 19, 2020, when a Toyota Prius with six teens inside was intentionally rammed off the road by Chandra, who fled the scene after the crash, prosecutors said.
Three of the teens died as a result of the crash, as the Prius’ driver lost control and slammed into a tree. The passengers who died, and those whose death Chandra was convicted of, were all 16 years old, the paper reported.
The other three passengers, the driver, who was 18 at the time, and two other boys, who were 13, survived the crash. They all testified during the trial and were present when the verdict was read, the Enterprise reported.
Prosecutors shared during the case that the six friends had dared one of the boys to either jump into a pool at night or play “ding dong ditch.”
The boys chose the latter, and Chandra’s home happened to be the one they decided to prank.
Chandra testified in the case, explaining that one of the teens rang his doorbell, pulled down his pants to show his buttocks, and then fled, the Enterprise reported. The California man also testified that he had drunk 12 beers before the incident.
After the prank, Chandra shared that he decided to chase the boys, and during his cross-examination, he admitted that he had hit upwards of 99 mph while chasing the teens.
Eventually, Chandra’s car crashed into the Prius, forcing it out of control, before he took off.
While he said his plan was not to make the Prius crash, Chandra did testify that he didn’t stop after rear-ending the sedan because he did not realize the passengers in the car had been injured.
Though he claimed he pursued the boys out of fear for his family’s safety, the jury inevitably sided with the prosecution, finding him guilty of the six charges brought against him.
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