A California teenager has been charged with three counts of murder and one count of reckless driving in connection to a three-vehicle car crash in early August that killed the 21-year-old son of comedian Tony Baker.
The Burbank Police Department released a statement last week in which they said, “On August 3, 2021, three unwitting victims lost their lives in a fatal traffic collision which occurred at the intersection of Glenoaks Boulevard and Andover Drive.”
“This tragic and avoidable event,” they maintain, “was caused by subjects racing vehicles and driving recklessly at very high rates of speed.”
Hamlet Arseni Aghajanyan, 19, was driving his gray Kia when he hit Cerain Anthony Raekwon Baker, Jaiden Kishon Johnson, 20, and 19-year-old Natalee Asal Moghaddam, who were ejected from the silver Volkswagen they were in and all perished in the crash.
A fourth victim survived but remains hospitalized. Aghajanyan “sustained serious injuries and was transported to a local trauma center for medical treatment,” authorities said.
The Volkswagen was not involved in the street race.
A 17-year-old who was racing Aghajanyan in a Mercedes-Benz, the third car in the collision, was also charged and is being held in a juvenile detention center.
“The Burbank Police Department reminds all community members that such reckless acts will not be tolerated,” their statement contends. “The Burbank Police Department will continue to aggressively enforce traffic laws, including reckless driving, racing, and unsafe speed. The Department will also continue to conduct and participate in educational campaigns to deter such reckless driving behaviors.”
Tony Baker — a popular comedian who has gone viral in the past year by doing voiceovers on short video clips of animals — has been very vocal on Twitter about his pain in the wake of the loss of his son.
On Monday, he wrote, “People have been applauding me for my strength in these painful streets but the REAL MVP is Cerain’s mother. We all know a Mother’s love is next level deep but she has been amazing moving through this nightmare.”
“She’s not on social media like that,” he added, “but trust & believe she has been strong through it all. She is a mother that actually likes her children and in my eyes is one of the best Moms I’ve ever seen.”
“Handling that delicate balance of being fully invested in her children’s lives, but also giving space. Listening to our children instead of just telling. This is the worst thing we could imagine, but she is pushing through with pure strength,” Baker continued.
Of himself, he wrote, “I can’t take credit for being strong through this. I am simply existing. I’m not fighting ANYTHING. I don’t resist any waves. If I want to be silly, I go with the flow. If I want to cry, I let it out. The only things I have been fighting is regrets and what if’s. We miss him.”
“Sharing my journey through this with you guys may seem odd to some, but it actually helps me,” he shared. “I don’t feel alone in this. I feel like the world hugged us and that you all actually cared. And with that, it makes me at ease to share. It helps.”
One Baker fan replied to him: “Your comedy legit carried us through the pandemic. Turned pain into laughter. It’s only right we come full circle and pay that back.”
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