Two Trick-or-Treaters Struck, Killed by Auto

Two Halloween trick-or-treaters--both 9-year-old girls--were killed Sunday night when they were run over by a pickup driver who apparently did not see them crossing the street, police said.

The accident happened shortly before 9 p.m. at Orangethorpe Avenue and Pacific Drive.

Police said the victims, who both lived less than a block from the scene of the accident, were walking in the crosswalk with two adults and another child when they were hit.

Fullerton Police Sgt. Neal Baldwin said the girls were wearing Halloween costumes and had been trick-or-treating. They were both taken to area hospitals where they were pronounced dead.

One girl went to UCI Medical Center in Orange and the other was taken to Martin Luther Hospital in Anaheim.

Authorities identified the dead girls as Christina Mach and her cousin, Alice Lee.

Baldwin said the pickup driver, identified as James Shomo, 21, of Fullerton, was working as a pizza deliveryman at the time of the accident.

Police said no citations have been issued and an investigation is continuing.

“The speed limit is 45 or 50 (miles per hour) there and the pickup was moving pretty good,” Baldwin said. “The pickup apparently didn’t see them and hit two of them.”

Baldwin said there is no stop sign or signal at the intersection where the accident occurred.