Courtney Stewart called her mother from Angel Stadium Wednesday night. She was watching a friend pitch the best game of his major league career.
"Aren't you watching the game?" she asked her parents.
Carrie Stewart-Dixon and her husband, Richard, rushed home to watch the Angels and Oakland Athletics. Their daughter had received tickets from the Angels rookie starter Nick Adenhart.
The family members exchanged text messages throughout the game. Most were about Adenhart's outstanding performance.
"She was so excited for Nick," Stewart-Dixon said of her daughter. "She was so proud of him."
Adenhart pitched six scoreless innings against the Athletics. He met Stewart and two friends after the game.
Later that night, Stewart, 20, Adenhart, 22, and Henry Pearson, 25, were killed in a crash at a Fullerton intersection. Another man in the car, 24-year-old Jon Wilhite, was in serious condition Saturday at UC Irvine Medical Center.
Police said they were in a Mitsubishi Eclipse that was struck by a van at Lemon and Orangethorpe. Witnesses said the minivan ran a red light, said Fullerton police Lt. Craig Brower.
"It had to be a perfect storm of events to happen the way it did," said Richard Dixon. "We don't understand it."
The van's driver, Andrew Gallo, 22, was charged with three murder counts and drunken driving. Gallo also was charged with driving under the influence causing injury, and driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08 percent causing injury with a sentencing enhancement that he personally inflicted great bodily injury.
In addition, he was charged with fleeing the scene of a traffic accident causing death or injury.
"Today, the anger is coming out," Stewart-Dixon said Saturday as she held pictures of her daughter. "She was very loving. She loved to love people. She loved to be loved.
"There's a reason he shouldn't have been on the road. This is the exact reason."
Stewart-Dixon said her daughter and Adenhart met about one year ago. He was called to the minor leagues, but they got back in touch when the Angels brought Adenhart back to the majors.
Richard Dixon said Courtney was studying Communications at Cal State Fullerton. She wanted to be a sports journalist.
"She knew anything and everything about the Angel players," he said. "She was a terrific girl. She enjoyed life. She enjoyed friends and family. It's a life cut too short. She was going to have so much to offer the world."
But it wasn't just the home team that interested Stewart. Stewart-Dixon said her daughter would watch any baseball game -- no matter which team was playing.
Stewart wasn't one to sit on the sidelines. She was a member of her high school's golf and softball teams. Dixon said she was hoping to be a walk-on for the Cal State Fullerton golf team.
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"She was on a mission," her mother said.
The former high school cheerleader also cared deeply for children, Stewart-Dixon said. She was described as the "Pied Piper" of the neighborhood and a great babysitter.
