From left, Asha Weir, Deslyn Williams, Niamh Rolston and Peyton Stewart.Photo:facebook; instagram (2); courtesy
facebook; instagram (2); courtesy
Friends, family members and a college community in a California town are reeling from a Tuesday evening crash that killedfour Pepperdine University students.
The victims have been identified as Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams.
Bohm, who suffered minor injuries from the crash, was arrested on charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
All four women were seniors and in the Alphi-Phi sorority. Rolston, Stewart and Weir were all roommates since sophomore year, Rolston’s mother Tracy Rolston tells PEOPLE.
Here’s what we know about the victims:
Niamh Rolston
Niamh Rolston.Niamh Rolston/Instagram
Niamh Rolston/Instagram
Niamh Rolston, 20, was an athlete: She was a cheerleader, a gymnast and pole vaulter, who competed in the CIH championship. She was studying business and always had a creative mind, her father David Rolston tells PEOPLE.
She was “excited about the next chapter of her life,” her mother Tracy says. “And now it’s just so senseless.”
David recalled a speech contest Niamh won for her fifth grade commencement, where she “turned her school experience into a discussion into this [Harry Potter] world.”
She was a “gutsy” athlete with “incredible fortitude,” her grieving father added.
Deslyn Williams
Deslyn Williams.Deslyn Williams/Instagram
Deslyn Williams/Instagram
Deslyn Williams had a “bubbly spirit” that was “a beacon on Pepperdine’s campus,” her friend Nora Moriarty-McLaughlin tells PEOPLE.
“She had a magnetic energy about her,” Moriarty-McLaughlin says. “Deslyn left of piece of herself in every person she met, her spirit will live on forever.”
She was a biology student and on a pre-veterinary track. Moriarty-McLaughlin says she is the person she first looked for at an event. The college junior said Williams had taken her under her wing, and she will always think of her when she eats gooey butter cake.
“Deslyn had a deep passion and empathy for animals,” her friend adds. “I have no doubt that she is taking care of all the animals in heaven.”
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Peyton Stewart
Peyton Stewart.
Peyton Stewart was an introverted and shy child who grew up to be a confident and determined young woman proud of her accomplishments, her father Barry Stewart tells PEOPLE.
She completed her senior year of high school during the pandemic and did not get to have prom or graduation ceremony. “It didn’t seem to phase her too badly,” Barry says, adding that she was “enamored” with Pepperdine University and excited to attend.
Even though her first year was remote learning, she moved to California and stayed in the dorm on campus for three months of her freshman year.
She enjoyed traveling and spent her sophomore year in the London campus, then she landed her “dream internship” at TikTok in Austin, Texas, her father says.
“I don’t think she ever had any enemy,” Stewart adds. “She was looking forward to the future.”
Asha Weir
Asha Weir.Asha Weir/Facebook
Asha Weir/Facebook
Asha Weir was studying writing at Pepperdine University, according to herLinkedIn, where she wrote she was passionate about the “dynamic landscapes of the fashion and music industries.”
In a social media tribute, her friendPhoebe Mutlusaid the Pennsylvania native “always knew exactly what to say to suddenly make everything bad feel okay.”
“She was a true and loyal friend, sister, and confidant, wise beyond her years,” Mutlu wrote in an Instagram post.
She had dreams to explore careers in the fashion and music industry, according to her Linkedin.
source: people.com
