Tragic Course : Desta Asgedom, a Top Running Prospect From Ethiopia, Is Hit and Killed by a Pickup Truck in Pico Rivera; Friends Can’t Believe It Was Suicide

Some thought Desta Asgedom was destined to join the ranks of the world’s top middle-distance runners. They said the sinewy Ethiopian had the right ingredients--a long, graceful stride and a strong finishing kick.

He was fortunate, others said, because Asgedom, 19, also had the opportunity to attend college and train in the United States.

But those hopes were shattered in an instant on the morning of Sept. 1.

Asgedom was killed when he was struck by a pickup truck, apparently while on a training run in Pico Rivera. The circumstances surrounding the death, however, remain clouded.

The case has been listed as a suicide by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, but coaches and friends disagree.

Asgedom, who came to the United States to compete at Riverside Community College in January, won the 800 meters and placed third in the 1,500 at the 1990 World Junior Track and Field championships in Bulgaria.

Also in 1990, he set the Ethiopian 800 national record of 1 minute 45.89 seconds. This summer, the 6-foot, 135-pound Asgedom ran 3:38.13 in the 1,500 while competing on the European track circuit.

In May, Asgedom won the 1,500 and the 5,000 meters and finished second in the 800 behind teammate Melford Homela in the state junior college meet in Long Beach, helping Riverside to the championship.

“He had a lot going for him,” said Riverside Coach Ted Banks, the former coach of 1,500-meter world record-holder Noureddine Morceli. “(Winning a world junior title) was something that Morceli never did. That says a lot. (Asgedom) was a tremendous runner and had he gotten a little more experience, he had the potential to be an Olympic medal winner.”

Asgedom was offered a scholarship to Wayland Baptist in Texas but became homesick after spending a week at the campus in late August. He declined the offer and decided to return to Riverside.

“He didn’t like it because there’s not a big Ethiopian community, like he has over here and in Riverside,” said Louis Ramirez, Asgedom’s personal coach. “He was lonely and wanted to come back.”

On Aug. 31, Ramirez, who also is the track and cross-country coach at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, picked up Asgedom at the airport. Asgedom had planned to spend the night at Ramirez’s home in Pico Rivera before going back to Riverside.

Asgedom was gone when Ramirez awoke but had left his passport, luggage and money at the house. Ramirez assumed that Asgedom had gone on a training run and left for Trade Tech.

Asgedom, however, had not gotten far.

He was wearing running clothes when he was struck while trying to cross Washington Boulevard less than half a mile from Ramirez’s home. Asgedom had crested a small flight of stairs on an embankment on the side of the road moments before he was hit.

The driver of the pickup truck said he saw Asgedom standing on the sidewalk facing traffic, waiting to cross, and said Asgedom made eye contact before diving in front of his truck, deputy Judy Anderson wrote in her accident report.

Two witnesses, one driving behind the truck and another driving in the opposite direction, also said they saw Asgedom jump in front of the vehicle, according to the report.

Asgedom, whom sheriffs officials originally believed to be a transient, was pronounced dead of multiple injuries 25 minutes later at Whittier Presbyterian Hospital. The driver of the truck was not charged. His identity has not been released.

Ramirez sensed trouble when he phoned home that evening and learned that Asgedom had not returned.

Ramirez began calling Asgedom’s friends and finally drove to Riverside to the home of Alemayehu Roba--who had come to the United States with Asgedom to compete at Riverside--before filing a missing persons’ report.

Two hours later, Ramirez was notified of Asgedom’s death.

“At first, I found it hard to believe he was gone,” Ramirez said. “I was in shock with that and for a day, I was just trying to comprehend the loss of him.”

Teferi Gebre, 24, a close friend of Asgedom who fled Ethiopia nine years ago to come to the United States and competed at Cal Poly Pomona, is angry about the disposition of the case.

“He was one of the happiest persons I knew,” Gebre said. “Everything sounds totally phony. That’s what really bothers me. If you look at his history as a runner, it just does not make sense. He had a free education and schools to chose from. He had so many options.”

Ramirez also finds the sheriff’s assessment difficult to fathom.

“What they don’t realize is there are more cars in L.A. than there are in Ethiopia,” Ramirez said. “As a former runner, I know it’s so easy to get distracted, and (drivers) assume you are looking at them.”

But Lt. Frank Merriman said the case is closed and there are no plans to re-evaluate it. He said the suicide decision was based on the witnesses’ testimony and the results of an autopsy performed Sept. 3 by L.A. County Coroner’s pathologist Joan Shipley.

“The guy could have everything in the world, but if three people said he dives in front of truck, that’s all we can go by,” Merriman said. “From the beginning, it didn’t sound like a traffic accident. It appears like a suicide. It would have been nice if he had a note pinned to him, saying he was going to kill himself. Nobody can tell what a guy is thinking.”

Ramirez, Gebre and the Ethiopian Community Center in Los Angeles are trying to raise $8,000 to send Asgedom’s body to Ethiopia for burial. Thus far, the group is still about $6,000 short.

“There’s nothing anyone can do to bring him back, but the incident would be much easier to cope with if the investigation was reopened,” Ramirez said.