A Whittier man is due back in court after he allegedly caused a multi-vehicle crash in February that killed three people, including two College of the Canyons students.

Dealio Lockhart, 35, has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and four counts of reckless driving on a highway causing specific injury.

Lockhart is suspected of racing his Dodge challenger with another driver after midnight by downtown Los Angeles on the Interstate 5 freeway Saturday, Feb. 27. One of the vehicles lost control and caused a UPS truck to go airborne and land on the center median before catching fire. Another vehicle in the crash had its top sheared off by the UPS truck.

The crash killed UPS driver Scott Treadway, 52, as well as Brian Lewandowski, 18, and Michelle Littlefield, 19, both students at College of the Canyons.

Along with the three fatalities, four others were also seriously injured in the crash that included two male passengers in the Nissan shared with Lewandowski and Littlefield and a man and woman in separate cars.

Lockhart is due back in court Friday, Dec. 16. If convicted, Lockhart could face up to life in state prison.