Mom of Pepperdine senior killed by former classmate says Malibu crash ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’
EXCLUSIVE: The mother of a Pepperdine University senior killed this month alongside her three sorority sisters by a speeding driver in Malibu, California, called the loss “every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Fraser Bohm, 22, is charged with barreling down the Pacific Coast Highway at 104 mph when he lost control of his BMW and slammed into a row of cars that struck Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams.
“It’s so hard. It’s so hard. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Tracy Rolston, the mother of 20-year-old Niamh, as she choked back tears. “You have a kid, and you just hope that nothing like this ever happens.”
Bohm, who is charged with four counts each of murder and vehicular manslaughter, was released Friday on a $4 million bond after spending three days in jail.
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“He killed four girls and walked away without a scratch, and now he’s out,” she added. “I know that justice has to go through the process, but it’s very hard.”
Tracy revealed that Bohm was a classmate of her daughter’s at Oaks Christian School, where he played varsity baseball. While they weren’t friends, they’ve likely crossed paths, she added.
“We’re not over this, and we never will be. It’s very unnatural to bury your child.”
Tracy last saw her daughter the weekend before her death. Niamh returned to the family’s Los Angeles home to celebrate her mother’s birthday.
They went shopping on Sunday, and Tracy dropped her off Monday at her dorm room, where she shared a suite with Stewart and Weir, both 21.
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The foursome, who were all members of the Alpha Phi sorority, headed to a party at the Sigma Chi house at about 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 and parked a few houses away.
“He sped so hard that he launched a car into them, and they died from blunt force trauma,” Tracy said.
She and Niamh’s father, David Rolston, heard about the crash Wednesday morning and rushed to the scene.
“I drove there hoping that it wasn’t true, but her phone said she was there,” Tracy recalled, breaking down in sobs. “She was a happy girl. She loved life. She had everything going for her. They all did, and their lives were cut short.” The loss has been devastating for Niamh’s little brother.
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Weir, of Skippack, Pennsylvania, was an English major while Williams, 21, of Atlanta, was a pre-med biology major. Stewart, of Westwood, New Jersey, studied international business and planned to pursue a career in tech.
The Rolston family had a funeral Saturday at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, where Niamh was baptized.
Tracy’s grief has been compounded by hearing Bohm’s high-powered attorney, Michael Kraut, frame his client as a victim.
Kraut said last week in Los Angeles Superior Court that Bohm was texting at a stop sign when another driver started yelling at him and then ran him off the road, setting in motion the tragic collision.
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The attorney also insisted that Bohm was only going 70 mph. The posted speed limit is 45 mph. He told Fox News Digital that he’d repeatedly tried to share this information with investigators but that they weren’t interested.
The attorney said his client wasn’t under the influence and had no previous traffic violations.
But prosecutor Nathan Bartos said that Bohm, who grew up in an $8.7 million Malibu home with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, knew the neighborhood well and the dangers of that stretch of highway dubbed “Dead Man’s Curve.”
In an initial interview with detectives, Bohm allegedly admitted that he might have been texting when he crashed and didn’t mention that an irate driver had pursued him.
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“It was very, very hard to hear his attorney say that he was a victim,” Tracy told Fox News Digital. “Our girls are gone, and he was driving 104 mph and possibly texting. I mean, I do realize he didn’t set out to murder them, but at the same time, you can’t do what he did.”
The most treacherous section of the Pacific Coast Highway, which includes Dead Man’s Curve, inspired the documentary “21 Miles in Malibu.” Film producer Michel Shane lost his 13-year-old daughter, Emily, in a car accident on the iconic highway.
As for the Rolstons, they’re not sure that they will ever heal.
“We’re not over this, and we never will be. It’s very unnatural to bury your child,” Tracy said.
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