Memorial Garden Will Mark the Spot Where 4 Were Killed by Car

Glendale officials and volunteers are working together to create a $16,000 memorial garden for four people killed in July by a suspected drunk driver.

The site of the garden will be a median divider at the north fork of Verdugo Road and Canada Boulevard, where the accident occurred.

Nello Iacono, Glendale parks director, said a private fund will be set up to accept donations for plants. Plans for the project, which was approved by the Division of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, were drawn by James DeRouen, 45, an architectural designer, and Sandra Fiorenza, 27, a landscape architect. Both are Glendale residents who volunteered their services.

The City Council unanimously voted the money Tuesday to landscape the 6,500-square-foot median, but Iacono said accepting private donations will “allow the community to participate.”

The city will finance the garden’s creation and be reimbursed by the private donations earmarked for the memorial.

DeRouen said that as he drove to his office in Montrose on July 13, he passed through the intersection moments after five members of two families waiting on the median strip were struck by an out-of-control car. He said it was a scene that he will never forget.

“There were bodies all over the place,” DeRouen said. He appeared before the City Council several days later to ask that a memorial be established for the victims. Only one victim survived.

Fiorenza said she was traumatized by news accounts of the tragedy. She said she contacted DeRouen after learning of his proposal to establish a memorial. “I just wanted to do something,” she said, adding, “the hearts of everyone here” go out to the surviving families.

Valerie Cramer, 32; her daughter Brianna, 9; Patricia Carr, 36, and her daughter Karen, 6, were waiting on the median divider after a stroll about 8:30 p.m. when a speeding car struck them on the unprotected island, witnesses said.

Billy Cramer, 12, the only survivor, said during a preliminary hearing in January that he saw the car coming and threw himself flat before he could yell a warning. He suffered a broken finger and an injured knee.

Driver out on Bail

The driver of the car, William K. Conway, 27, is free on bail pending a trial scheduled to begin May 5 in Pasadena Superior Court. A part-time city maintenance worker, Conway is charged with four counts of manslaughter and one count of causing an accident with injuries while driving under the influence of alcohol.

The city has since installed guard rails to protect pedestrians on the island and changed traffic signals to slow approaching vehicles.

Landscaping on the median will feature four varieties of pink floribunda rose bushes, each representing one of the victims, Iacono said. Pink-flowering India hawthorn bushes will be planted to camouflage guard rails, with verbena and star jasmine as ground cover. The city also plans to install a plaque.

Iacono said work is expected to begin within a month and be completed by the end of May.