Hit-and-Run Death of Boy, 12, Stuns Seal Beach : Accident: Friends as well as strangers mourn where Steven Schneider was struck as he waited to cross the street.

A small shrine of flowers and candles marked the spot where 12-year-old Christopher Schneider died in an auto accident this week that left neighbors and strangers grief-stricken Wednesday.

Police said the accident was caused by a Seal Beach woman, who was driving with a suspended license and is believed to have been intoxicated. Cynthia Kaye Lietz, 28, is to be arraigned in Municipal Court in Westminster this morning on felony charges, including reckless driving and manslaughter. She is being held in Orange County Jail.

The Tuesday afternoon accident has taken an emotional toll on the military personnel who live alongside the Schneider family at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.

“The family is in shock,” Navy Lt. Karl Johnson said. “They understand that this was an accident, but it was an accident that didn’t have to happen.”

Friends and neighbors spent Wednesday attempting to comfort Christopher’s father, Petty Officer 1st Class Dean Schneider, and his younger brothers. A navy chaplain also visited the family, Johnson said.

“People are trying to help them through this tragedy,” he said. “Everyone is showing their support. This is the kind of thing that brings people together.”

The Seal Beach Police Officers’ Assn. placed a flower wreath at the site of the accident, just outside the weapons station at Seal Beach Boulevard and Bolsa Avenue. Others came to the site Wednesday to pray, cry and place flowers and candles.

“He was really a great kid--very enjoyable,” said Roland Kim, co-owner of Casey’s Baseball Cards in Seal Beach, where Christopher regularly purchased Mighty Morphin Power Rangers cards.

“He and his friends would come into the store and look around,” Kim said. “They were a nice group. He wasn’t a smart-aleck or anything like that.”

His death was a topic of conversation Wednesday at the local swimming pool and at a birthday party attended by some of Christopher’s friends and classmates.

“People are just saddened by the whole thing,” said Marilyn Bruce Hastings, a Seal Beach council member.

Christopher was standing on the sidewalk about to walk his bike across Seal Beach Boulevard when a Mercedes driven by Lietz suddenly swerved out of its northbound lane, causing a Mitsubishi to jump the curb and strike the boy, police Sgt. Dean Zanone said.

Police believe that Christopher was going from his home to McGaugh Elementary School, which is across Seal Beach Boulevard. Christopher pushed the pedestrian walk button moments before he was struck, Zanone said.

Lietz fled the scene of the accident but was arrested by police a few minutes later on Westminster Avenue near Bolsa Chica Road, he said.

Authorities believe that Lietz was under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. Police administered a drug test, but the result will not be known for several weeks, Zanone said.

According to Department of Motor Vehicles records, Lietz’s driver’s license has been suspended since June, 1990, when she was involved in an auto accident and did not have insurance.

She was sent a second suspension notice in March after failing to appear in court to take care of a speeding ticket, according to the DMV. She was involved in another accident in Arcadia in April.

The driver of the Mitsubishi, who was critically injured in the Tuesday accident, was hospitalized in fair condition Wednesday night.

The Schneiders have lived at the base since April, 1993, Johnson said. Christopher’s mother lives in San Diego.