Teen Pleads Not Guilty in Deaths of 4

A Canyon High School senior pleaded not guilty to four counts of vehicular manslaughter Tuesday in the deaths resulting from a high-speed accident last week in Santa Clarita.

In a courtroom packed with friends and relatives of both the defendant and the four who died, prosecutors asked that bail be doubled to $500,000 for Marcus Christian Lellan, 18, of Santa Clarita.

Police said Lellan may have been driving as fast as 100 mph on Soledad Canyon Road when he sped around vehicles and through a bicycle lane, losing control of his Acura and crashing into an oncoming Mustang.

Two of Lellan’s passengers were thrown from the car and killed. A third passenger died inside the car and a fourth teenage passenger survived. The dead included two brothers.

Lellan, who suffered minor injuries, could face up to 10 years in prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Jacobs. Municipal Judge Alan S. Rosenfield set a preliminary hearing for March 23.

Many of the nearly 70 people--mostly teens--who crowded into Newhall Municipal Court to show their support for Lellan gasped when Jacobs announced he would seek a bail increase.

“There was a high level of culpability here,” Jacobs said afterward. “The bail reflects the degree of wanton negligence, the speed of the car. . . . His behavior warrants the charges and the bail amount.”

Lellan remained in custody Tuesday, having not posted the lower bail amount. The proposed bail increase will be decided at a March 3 hearing.

Lellan’s attorney, James Blatt, said the teenager was deeply sorry about the accident and that his parents had communicated their regrets to the parents of the three Canyon High School students killed. Blatt described Lellan’s parents as “decent, middle-class Danish Americans.”

“Their condolences go out to the victims of this tragedy,” Blatt said. “Marcus’ parents are under tremendous strain and worried about their son.”

Gitta Lellan, the defendant’s mother, cried throughout the proceedings.

Many in the courtroom wept when Lellan appeared in his blue jail jumpsuit, barely looking at the gallery and muttering his responses to Rosenfield.

Many of the youths in attendance wore yellow ribbons in memory of their dead classmates. Teenagers gathered in groups and embraced after Lellan was led out of the courtroom.

Lellan’s arraignment came a few hours after a memorial service was held for crash victim Dominic Whit Ianozzi, 16, at Grace Baptist Church in Saugus. Services are scheduled at the same church at 2:30 p.m. Thursday for brothers Timothy Lee Renolds, 17, and Daniel Richard Renolds, 15. Rodney Adams, 45, the Mustang driver, will be memorialized Friday at 10 a.m. at Grace Baptist.

Adams’ niece, April Adams, said her uncle did not have to die that night.

“My uncle did not mean to be in the way of that young man’s car,” she said. “But people have to be responsible for their actions. . . . My uncle was a great guy. . . . A lot of people came forward to express their sorrow.”

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Times staff writer Johnathon Briggs contributed to this story.