Teens mourned after fatal crash

The body of Wilfredo Trevino - killed in a tragic car accident Saturday night that claimed the lives of two other youths - lay on a hospital bed as his mother wept beside it yesterday. The Roman Catholic High School graduate's body was swollen, and he no longer resembled the handsome teen who danced his heart out for Grupo Fuego, a musical dance group based in North Philadelphia, said its director Hector Serrano.

The mother held onto the body of her 18-year-old son inside Hahnemann University Hospital and cried, "You're going to dance in heaven. Please watch over us. Watch over your little brother and over me," said Serrano, who was in the room.

The moment sticks in Serrano's memory like a knife: "That's when it hit me that my friend, my dancer, was not going to be with us anymore."

Also killed in the accident was his buddy, Luis Figueroa, 17, a junior at Community Academy Charter School, on Erie Avenue near J Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Also killed was Esteban "Macho" Santiago, 19, of Hartville Street near Indiana Avenue. He was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. at Hahnemann.

Three others in the car were injured critically. Their names were immediately available.

Police said the teens were in a Honda traveling south on American Street at Cecil B. Moore Avenue shortly after 11 p.m. when it was rammed by a Buick that police said was traveling north on American at a high rate of speed.

The driver of the Buick, identified as Presley Hanif, 27, of Stillman Street near Norris, jumped out of the car and ran, police said.

He was arrested yesterday afternoon and charged with homicide by vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident and related offenses.

Figueroa, who "loved to perform and loved to help out," was a member of Students Tackling Education Programs (STEPs), a Grupo Fuego organization for young people 5 to 18, Serrano said.

Their deaths prompted hundreds of their friends, dance troupe members and classmates to head toward Hahnemann and Temple hospitals, where Figueroa was taken in the early hours yesterday, Serrano said.

The teens, who ranged in age from 16 to 19, "were in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Sgt. Lawrence Ritchie, of the Accident Investigation Division. "They were minding their own business on American Street. The kids did not do anything wrong, whatsoever," Ritchie said.

Friends braved the windswept, rainy cold last night on the corner of American and Cecil B. Moore to their pay respects.

"They were regular kids who were having fun on the weekend," said neighbor Angel Rodriguez, who stood with the crowd of 150-plus at the intersection. "As you can look around and see, they were loved by a lot of people."

Rodriguez runs a motorcycle club that pledges to support the families with donations. "Their families need funds," he said.

Others remembered the teens for their carefree nature and how they would offer help and encouragement to everyone who needed it. "I went to dance class with 'Fredy' - he was always a happy kid," said a teary-eyed Kayla Carpena. "He couldn't sing, but always acted like he could; he always tried hard.

"And Luis always said the girls were pretty, laughing with us," Carpena continued. "Luis had asthma, but loved the dancers and wanted to be like us. He was always there for us. He wouldn't want to see us crying like this, but I can't help it. I know he's in a better place."

"Wilfredo never ever, ever argued with anyone," Serrano said. "He took something sad or mad and turned it into something positive." *