CRASH VICTIMS MOURNED; FAMILIES, FRIENDS GRIEVE LOSS OF 5 LIVES WHEN CAR LEFT ROAD.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro and Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writers

John Kenneth Chu would have celebrated his 26th birthday on Monday.

Shaun Perez was working at the Antelope Valley Mall and thinking about what to do with his life, possibly going on with college.

Vanessa Yusi was graduating in two months from Highland High School and had plans of attending college.

Jovannie Solano had just signed up for the Navy. John Batas planned to enter the Air Force after graduating from Desert Winds High School.

All five young lives ended Thursday on a hillside beside the Antelope Valley Freeway when a spring break getaway turned tragic.

``He was fated to leave us,'' Vicente Batas, John Batas' father, said Friday afternoon in a house filled with mourning relatives. ``We loved him all very much, all of us. We're trying to cope.''

The five friends, ages 17 to 25, were riding in an Acura Legend that careened off the side of the southbound freeway and tumbled down a ravine. They were part of a four-car caravan of teen-agers and young adults headed to the beach.

Killed were Vanessa, 17, of Palmdale, who was driving; her boyfriend, Perez, 20, of Palmdale; Solano, 20, of Palmdale; Chu, 25, of Palmdale; and Batas, 18, of Lancaster.

The CHP said witnesses told investigators the four cars were speeding south on the freeway about 1 p.m. when Vanessa's black 1989 Acura Legend - in the rear - changed from the middle to the right lane.

The driver lost control and the car skidded onto the shoulder, then plunged down an embankment, CHP spokesman Doug Sweeney said. The car flipped and rolled over twice, ejecting four of its five occupants.

The four young men died at the scene. Vanessa was flown by helicopter to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where she died about four hours later.

But family members and friends said that Vanessa's car was not racing but skidded off the freeway when she was cut off by a white Suburban sport-utility vehicle, which did not stop.

Vanessa swerved to one side to avoid the Suburban, swerved back again and went off the embankment, said a passenger in one of the other cars, who asked not to be identified.

``She wasn't going anywhere near racing speed,'' the passenger said.

But the CHP said other motorists reported the cars were driving fast and appeared to be racing after getting on the freeway at Palmdale Boulevard.

``There's quite a few independent witnesses who say that it looked like they were racing,'' Sweeney said. ``They were in and out of traffic at 80 to 100 mph.''

The white Suburban was not involved in the crash, Sweeney said. Vanessa changed lanes in front of it, he said, and the Suburban never moved out of the lane it was in.

The oldest of the victims was Chu, who had attended high school in Stockton and worked at his parents' store, the Manila Seafood Center in Lancaster.

``He helped at the store a lot,'' said Rudy Mamaril, who knew Chu and is past president of the Filipino American Association. ``He was one of these kids who was well-disciplined.''

Perez graduated last year from Palmdale High School, where he was a tailback on the varsity football team.

``He was a very likable young man and was probably one of our biggest overachievers in the football program,'' Palmdale head coach Jeff Williams said. ``He wasn't a real big kid but played with a lot of heart. He was one of the kids who gave it all he had.''

Perez had been dating Vanessa for about a year, family members said. They worked together at the Antelope Valley Mall and were planning to attend Vanessa's prom together.

Vanessa planned to attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising after graduation.

``She was outgoing and high spirited,'' said her father, Nick Yusi. ``She had the greatest personality.''

Services for Vanessa and Perez are being planned together, but burial will take place separately, family members said.

Batas, a senior at Desert Winds High School, was the youngest of five children. Around the home he would take out the trash, mow the lawn and help clean up in the kitchen, his father said. He planned to join the Air Force after graduation.

Solano, a former Highland High School student and the oldest of three boys in his family, had moved into an apartment in Pomona with two friends in December.

``He's always someone who would make you laugh,'' said Eldrin Cruz, Solano's roommate.

``He's one of a kind,'' said his mother, Lorne Bebault. ``He had the kindest heart. Everybody who knows him loves him.''

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5 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) BATAS

(2--Color) CHU

(3--Color) PEREZ

(4--Color) SOLANO

(5) YUSI