Two mothers killed in horrific North Hollywood DUI crash

A mother of five was among three street vendors killed when an allegedly drunk driver plowed his SUV into their sidewalk vending area outside a North Hollywood Metro station Tuesday night.

Maria Peck and 57-year-old Teodora Villalobos, a mother of three from El Salvador, were identified as two of the victims. The third woman’s identity had not been released as of Wednesday afternoon.

The women were longtime vendors near the busy intersection of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards, where neighbors said they had become familiar faces in the community.

“There’s going to be a hole right here coming right here for anybody that’s just in the community regularly,” neighbor Fran Shelia Straughter told NBC 4.

Witnesses told the television station that two women selling hot dogs were thrown into the air by the impact of the white SUV.

Police identified the driver as 61-year-old Ihor Demianenko, who investigators said was speeding and drove around another vehicle before losing control.

Demianenko was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence at twice the legal limit and booked on three counts of murder. His bail was set at $6 million.

At least three additional patients, including the driver, were transported to a Northridge hospital in critical condition.

Mayor-elect Nithya Raman mourned the victims in a post on X, writing, “My heart breaks for the families and loved ones of those killed in North Hollywood last night.”

She said reports that some of the victims were vendors who had spent years serving the community made the loss “especially devastating.”

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