Fifteen-year-old Wesley Welling was waiting for the bus with his sister and other students when a driver allegedly intentionally drove into them, and now his mother is sharing it's a miracle her daughter wasn't killed as well, as the family attempts to pick up the broken pieces of their lives Wednesday.
The 24-year-old driver was in jail Wednesday.
Kelly Welling said she’s so shocked and heartbroken in an interview with NBCLA.
Kelly shared that Wesley was her middle child, and described him as a teenager who just always wanted to help people.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Wesley Welling was a Westlake High School freshman: a bright, energetic 15-year-old.
"[He was] just positive, always joking," she said.
"He liked playing video games a lot. He loved playing board games. And he like loved playing with us whenever he had the chance," his brother Cody said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office said Tuesday afternoon Wesley was waiting for the bus with his sister and other students when Austin Eis allegedly drove into them.
Wesley’s frantic, surviving sister immediately called mom.
"And I get the call from my daughter Hannah that Wesley... there was an accident, and he was unconscious and they were doing CPR. They were doing CPR the whole way to the hospital and that is where he passed," Kelly said.
The crash killed Wesley and injured three others. His mom Kelly said it’s a miracle her daughter wasn’t hit too.
"She’s OK, but she witnessed it," Kelly said.
Hannah Welling was mere feet away.
"We usually wait for the bus but I was farther away from the bus seating area," she said. "I heard the skid and everything happened so fast....I don’t know what happened, where he was, or how he got hit at all," she said.
Wesley died on his mom’s birthday.
Kelly also said her sister died last week, so now she’s planning another funeral, this time for her son who meant so much to their family and this community.
"Everybody loved him and I’m finding out how many more people loved him than I even knew about," Kelly said.
"I don’t know how we’re going to do without him."
Flowers and dozens of candles were left at the intersection in Thousand Oaks where Eis was accused of intentionally plowing into students waiting for the bus.
The crimes began with a double stabbing at a Simi Valley Walmart, according to investigators. The stabbing victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities have not shared details about a possible motive in the attack.
The man suspected in that attack then drove to Camarillo, where he was involved in a dispute with family members, authorities said.
The violent rampage ended with the deadly crash in Thousand Oaks. Four teens were struck by a white Toyota Camry that ended up on its roof.
"He was trapped under the car so the police had to so the police had to like break the window and so and they took him out and we saw his head bleeding real bad," witness Maria Vasquez said.
Eis is being held at the Ventura County Jail where his bail has been set at $5 million. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Ventura County Superior Court.
Deputy Niki Phongpitag of the Thousand Oaks Police Department confirmed Eis was a former student of Westlake High.
It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.
Haz clic aquí para leer esta historia en español.
