Oscar Torres, BHS 2005

Oscar Torres, BHS 2005

December 03, 2005, Tania Chatila, Burbank Leader

Eighteen-year-old Oscar Torres died on Thanksgiving Day from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run accident.

BURBANK -- Oscar Torres left his Burbank home on Nov. 19, 2005 with a promise to his mother to return soon.

He went to drop off his girlfriend, like he always did. But Martha Torres had a bad feeling.
"I told him to come back quick because it was late," she said. "He hugged me really tight and said, 'I'm going to be back, Mommy. I promise. And I never make a promise I don't keep.'"
About 20 minutes later, Martha Torres received a call from her son's girlfriend who was in hysterics -- Oscar Torres, 18, had been in an accident.

The Nissan 240SX he was in with a 17-year-old friend from Burbank, was hit from behind as it sat parked on Columbus Avenue, near Riverdale Drive.

Andranik Manukovich Atshemyan, 23, of Glendale, was allegedly traveling 70 to 80 mph on a 25-mph street when he hit the Nissan, crushing it.

When Martha Torres and her family arrived at Glendale Memorial Hospital, where her son was taken, doctors were pessimistic about her son's condition.

He had stopped breathing for 10 minutes, and the doctors feared he would not make it, she said.
Martha Torres immediately recalled the promise her son had made to her.
"I grabbed him and I said, 'Oscar! Oscar! You promised me! You promised me you were going to come back, remember?'" she said.

At that moment, Oscar Torres sustained a heart beat.
The 18-year-old held on until Thanksgiving Day.

"I was hoping he was going to recover," his father, Juan Torres, said. "I told God to give me a miracle. But I think he was dead the first day he got impacted by the car." Juan Torres is confident his son is in Heaven. "God always takes the good ones," he said. And he was a good one, Martha Torres said.

"He was the kind of son that was all checking in and out," she said. "And he could have any friend. It could be a little baby, or a teenager, or a senior."

Oscar Torres went to Burbank High School his freshmen, sophomore and junior years, and moved to Monterey High School his senior year. He graduated in June. He was enrolled in Glendale Community College and was taking classes to be an insurance agent, which were paid for by his employer, Steven Segal Insurance. "We had him just around here for a short period of time, but he would have been the type of person we would have loved to have around here for years," Steven Segal said. "He was just a good kid, a good human being. His presence is missed here."

It has been difficult for the Torres family, including his three brothers, who are 10, 13 and 21, respectively. But friends and family have supported them since the accident, visiting the home everyday. "His room in the hospital was full," Martha Torres said, of the time her son spent at Glendale Memorial Hospital and then Kaiser Permanente in Panorama City.

Now, a vigil has been set up at the curb where the accident happened that emphasizes the impact Oscar Torres' death has had on those who knew him.

Since his death, Atshemyan, who allegedly fled the accident scene, has been found.
He faces one count of murder and one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident.

Note: If Oscar had stayed at BHS he would of graduated with the class of 2005.