Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Nun’s Relatives Sue City in Her Death at Intersection : Safety: The lack of a traffic signal or stop sign indicated neglect, the woman’s sisters contend.

Relatives of an 84-year-old nun killed at a Newhall intersection have filed a lawsuit against the city of Santa Clarita for not installing a traffic signal or stop sign at the site.

Sister Mary Laurita Hahn was struck and killed by a pickup truck Sept. 29 while crossing Lyons Avenue at Wayman Street.

“The city neglected and failed to put up a stop sign. They had the money to fund the stop sign but for whatever reason did not,” said John Rosenberg, attorney for Hahn’s sisters, Ruth Steidl of Newhall and Bernice Kohls of Milwaukee.

“They had money for that for a long time. The people wanted it for four years,” Steidl said Wednesday, calling the lack of a traffic signal or stop sign the result of “sheer neglect” by the city.

Santa Clarita rejected a $2-million wrongful death claim from Steidl and Kohls in February and was served with the lawsuit in mid-May. The legal action asks for an unspecified amount of damages.

The Santa Clarita city attorney’s office declined to comment other than to say it would respond to the charges this week. City engineers previously said traffic studies in 1987 and 1990 indicated that a light was unnecessary.

City Council members authorized installation of a traffic signal at Lyons and Wayman in October. The item had already been scheduled as part of the council agenda and was not a result of the accident, city officials said.

The signal was installed April 23.

Also named in the lawsuit are Newhall resident Gildardo Solorio and his brother, Jesus Solorio, the driver and owner of the truck.

Their attorney, Mike Booser, said a $50,000 settlement is being negotiated between the plaintiffs and the Solorios’ insurance company, which would release them from additional legal action.