13-year-old killed in e-motorcycle crash is remembered for ‘lots of happy energy’

News of the death of a 13-year-old boy killed in an e-motorcycle crash in Garden Grove on Thursday, May 7, spread quickly among his friends.

His riding buddies keep tabs on one another using a GPS location-sharing app that provides real-time tracking. They could tell that he was riding south on Magnolia Street near Larson Avenue around 9:50 p.m., they said.

Then came an alert. He may have been in an accident.

It wasn’t known why the boy, from Santa Ana, was riding in Garden Grove at that hour. Off-road electric motorcycles, which are equipped with pegs instead of pedals, are not legal to ride on public streets in California. E-bikes are legal, but some are modified for additional speed.

On Saturday, more than a dozen teenagers parked their ebikes or e-motorcycles at the median where the crash happened, now the scene of a makeshift memorial for the boy.

The street had heavy traffic at times, but amidst the cars, a few teenage riders popped wheelies, with pictures of the boy on their handlebars.

The teens also lit firecrackers and spray-painted messages like “forever 13.” They shouted “LLB” to passing cars — long live the boy’s memory. Some drivers appeared to honk in empathy.

A 15-year-old described the boy as having “lots of happy energy” and being “a good student.”

The friends also said he was passionate about lion dancing and was part of the Tyun Yee Tong lion dancers organization in Garden Grove. He inspired many of his young, fellow bikers to join the dance group, a 16-year-old said.

The group pointed to a roughy 1-foot-long black skid mark on the medium’s curb and surmised it was where his front tire hit.

He was going about 35 mph, authorities said, and was wearing a regular bicycle helmet. He died at the hospital.

Police had not released the boy’s name as of Sunday afternoon, though he was identified at the street memorial, by his friends, and on social media.

By early evening on Saturday, as activity at the memorial waned, Ash Plascencia looked solemnly out of place. He was holding a small black bag.

Plascencia, 19, said he has been a friend of the boy’s older brother since middle school. He hasn’t spoken with him since the accident.

“I’m giving him space,” he said.

“This is the first time I’ve experienced the loss of someone close,” he said. “A family member can be gone so fast.”

In his bag were snacks for his sister.

“This taught me to be more loving,” he said.

13-year-old boy riding e-motorcycle dies in crash in Garden Grove