Loved ones, community members and local leaders gathered Thursday in Chatsworth for a somber candlelight vigil to honor the lives of the five people who died earlier this week in two crashes just hours from one another.
A choir serenaded mourners as they huddled outside St. John Eudes Parish to pay their respects to the individuals who died in a crash involving a suspected DUI driver and another crash involving NewsChopper4.
The first crash happened just after 5 p.m. near the intersection of Nordhoff Street and De Soto Avenue after a suspected DUI driver traveling the wrong way T-boned a Metro bus. The crash resulted in the deaths of 46-year-old Daniel Castillo and 31-year-old Gage Weida.
Autumn Raiff, Weida’s long-term partner, said he was on his way to work when tragedy struck. The couple, who were looking forward to celebrating what would have been Weida’s birthday on Saturday, had been together for eight years.
“He was one in a million,” Raiff said. “He deserved so much better. We were planning so much for our lives.”
Weida’s co-worker Alison Silva, who attended the vigil holding a poster board signed by their colleagues, said their team was concerned when he didn’t show up to work Tuesday evening.
“He was innocent. He didn’t make it to work,” she said. “He was always very punctual so, when he wasn’t there at 6 o’clock, and then we saw the article about the scene, everyone at work was just really touched.”
Tributes and messages of support have been pouring in after the loss of NBC4 journalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw. John Cádiz Klemack reports for the NBC4 News at 6 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2026.
Castillo’s loved ones described him as a gregarious person whose joy spread to others.
“He was just amazing. His family was everything to him,” Francis Sandoval, Castillo’s cousin, said. “His laugh was contagious; he always had us laughing. Any time Danny was around, it was a blast.”
Sandoval said Castillo was on his way home from work and had just got on the bus when the crash happened. He is survived by his four children.
Roughly two hours later, just before 7 p.m., NewsChopper4, which was providing coverage on the suspected DUI crash, went down between two commercial buildings on the 9100 block of North Mason Avenue. Aerial reporter Eliana Moreno, 38, and pilot George Marciniw, who were aboard the aircraft, died as a result.
Edy Gutierrez Mejia, 29, was on the ground in the area at the time and also died in the crash. He had been in town for only two days and was visiting Los Angeles from Guatemala when the crash occurred.
Community members who wish to express their condolences to the victims are welcome to visit a memorial outside the church. The memorial, which includes portraits of all five victims, will be in place through the weekend.
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A portrait of Daniel Castillo is displayed on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026 in a vigil in Chatsworth.
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A portrait of Gage Weida is displayed on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in a vigil in Chatsworth.
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A portrait of Edy Gutierrez Mejia is displayed on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in a vigil in Chatsworth.
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Portraits of Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw are displayed on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in a vigil in Chatsworth.