Crash victim's mother makes desperate plea
The devastated mother of a child killed in the triple fatality in Melbourne's north says her daughter could still be alive if the Department of Human Services had not abandoned them.
Yazmine Ifran, 14, died when the overcrowded car she was a passenger in veered off the road and slammed into a brick wall on Pascoe Vale Road, at Coolaroo just after midnight on Thursday.
The driver, 16-year-old Terri Laticq from Sunbury, and 12-year-old Brandon Johnson, from Preston, also died at the scene.
Three other teenagers were injured, one critically, and were taken to hospital.
Police say the car was stolen and was travelling at high speeds when it spun out of control.
The act of teen rebellion has cost Christine Kite her only daughter.
"Yazmine was a beautiful 14-year-old who lived for her friends and her family. I can't believe she's gone," she told Seven News reporter Margaret Dekker.
"I'm not going to see her eighteenth, her sixteenth, her 21st. I've lost all that, just in a matter of seconds."
She is also upset at critics questioning her parenting skills.
"I know people say she should have been at home sleeping, but I thought she was at her friend's house sound asleep. I did not know she was out that late."
Christine also claims the Department of Human Services walked away from her family three weeks ago.
"They dropped the case and said there was nothing more they could do with Yazmine, she's going to have to find out the hard way. Now my daughter has found out the hard way, because she's never coming home."
The Department of Human Services confirmed it had been involved with the three deceased children, but that they were not in the care of the state, and had been living with their families.
The Salvation Army says it wants an end to certain juveniles falling through the gaps.
The Salvation Army's Major Brendan Nottle told Seven News: "I actually think this is a watershed moment for us, we can either look back and sheet home blame or we look forward and say let's put some things in place to make sure this never happens again."
A steady procession of grieving family and friends have left flowers, tributes and other mementos at a makeshift roadside memorial near the crash site.
Ms Kite has urged other youngsters to think about the impact of risk-taking behaviour and pleaded for them not to repeat the mistake.
"I always think she's going to come back home. It's a nightmare. I want teenagers to learn from this.
"Please let this be a wake up call. I don't want another parent to go through what I am going through at the moment.
"I have to bury my own child and no parent wants their child to go before they do."
