Car Hits, Kills Girl in Crosswalk

A 15-year-old Granada Hills girl was struck by a car in a crosswalk and killed as she walked to school Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The car rammed Melissa Ramos Mahinay, a 10th-grader at Kennedy High School, when she was crossing Rinaldi Street on Midwood Drive about 7:20 a.m., Los Angeles police said. Mahinay was rushed to Holy Cross Hospital but was pronounced dead of massive head injuries about 8:15 a.m.

Mahinay entered the street after a large truck--in the far right lane of the four-lane street--stopped for her at the crosswalk, said Detective Don Bellante. Thipphawan Chariphaibol of Granada Hills drove her car past the stopped truck on her right and hit Mahinay, he said.

Investigators cited Chariphaibol for not stopping for a pedestrian and passing a vehicle that had stopped for a pedestrian, Bellante said.

“We’ll take the paperwork to the city attorney’s office and if they determine that was negligent, she might be liable for misdemeanor manslaughter,” Bellante said. Chariphaibol told officers she never saw Mahinay, but police said skid marks indicated she applied her brakes before entering the crosswalk.

Traffic officers said Rinaldi Street is a common site for accidents, but they are rare at that intersection.

The accident occurred less than a mile from Kennedy High, where Mahinay was an honor student and member of the soccer team, friends said. Mahinay was about to begin her second semester at the school.

Tuesday was the first day of spring classes for the school’s students, who had been on winter break since mid-December. Few students knew about Mahinay’s death, although administrators called the girl’s close friends for meetings with a school counselor.