Armenian Boy Killed While Crossing Street

Seven-year-old Armen Abraymyan arrived in Los Angeles from Armenia this week, eager to experience an American-style Christmas. In just four days, he had stared wide-eyed at the honky-tonk of Hollywood and gleaming skyscrapers downtown, and he looked forward to a long list of sightseeing tours and celebrations in a place without snow.

But on Tuesday night Armen was hit by a car as he crossed the street between a cousin’s apartment here and one his family had rented for December. Holding the hand of his 17-year-old brother, the sleepy shoemaker’s son was on his way to bed when he was struck. He died two hours later.

“The brother and the little boy were going to their home because the little boy wanted to sleep,” said their cousin, Tatoul Ghariejanian, who found the vacation apartment for the boys and their parents within an enclave of Armenian emigres, where they would feel at ease on their first trip to the United States.

“Maybe they didn’t know how to cross the street. They didn’t see the car that was coming from the left side,” Ghariejanian said.

Los Angeles police said the 10 p.m. accident at Fulton Avenue and Erwin Street was under investigation. On Wednesday, no charges had been filed against the driver, identified as 29-year-old Kip Stolberg of Sherman Oaks.

Stolberg declined to comment Wednesday.

Detective James Mann said alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the accident, though investigators wondered why the brothers were not noticed as they stood within a marked crosswalk. Ghariejanian said witnesses told him that Stolberg was speeding.

The boys had stopped in the middle of the intersection to allow a northbound car to pass when Stolberg “apparently saw them too late, applied his brakes” but still struck the child, Mann said.

Armen was taken by ambulance to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. His brother Artash, who had been standing just ahead of him in the intersection, was unharmed.

With the help of a translator today, police hope to re-interview the surviving brother, who speaks no English and was described by his cousin Wednesday as so badly frightened that he was unable to talk.

“We are in very, very terrible condition,” Ghariejanian said in reference to the entire family, adding that Armen’s parents did not know whether to bury him here or return his body to Armenia, an expense they might not be able to afford.

“They cannot even decide. They are crying all day,” he said.

He said the family planned to call the Armenian Embassy in San Francisco today to find out how to send Armen’s body home and how much it would cost.

A musician who emigrated from Yerevan 2 1/2 years ago, Ghariejanian said the extended family had spent Tuesday evening in his apartment when young Armen announced he was tired. The adults allowed the older brother to take him and were continuing their visit when they heard the wail of sirens and were drawn outside.

“We run out, and I saw in front of their building there were emergency cars,” Ghariejanian said. “I feel very bad.”