Couple die in crash on 405

The daughter and son-in-law of Assemblywoman Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) were killed over the weekend in a car crash near Los Angeles International Airport, officials said Monday.

Emilia and Michael Wright, both 23, were married this year. They met while students at Loyola Marymount University, where Emilia was due to graduate in December.

According to a California Highway Patrol report, Michael Wright was driving a 1997 Hyundai -- his wife was the only passenger -- about 4:20 a.m. Sunday when it veered off the road, crashed into a support beam and burst into flames on the 405 Freeway near the La Tijera Boulevard overpass. Officers said they had not determined why the car went off the road.

A passerby tried to help pull Michael Wright out of the car, but was thwarted when the passenger compartment caught fire, the CHP report states.

Emilia Wright was the only child of Bass, a longtime emergency room physician assistant and community activist elected to the Assembly in 2004.

Bass, 52, was named the Assembly majority floor leader for the 2007-08 legislative session, and is the only African American woman in the Legislature.

Assemblyman Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, issued a statement on behalf of the caucus, his staff and family: “The passing of these two young people has left us all in a state of shock.�

Funeral arrangements were pending.

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