Girl, 16, and Woman, 77, Killed in Hit-Run Accidents

The day she turned 16, Lilia Barajas slipped into a tight black dress and platform shoes, blessed herself and left home on her first date.

Her mother, Lupe, had a warning: “Be careful. You don’t know what other people are doing out there.”

Early Saturday morning, Barajas was struck by a hit-and-run driver after attending the Glendale High School homecoming dance the night before. She died of massive head injuries Saturday at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

As in so many cases, there were few witnesses.

A 77-year-old woman, Edna Kemper, died in a similar hit-and-run accident about 5:30 a.m. Monday at 70th Street and Broadway. As in the Barajas case, the motorist vanished into the darkness.

As police sought information in both tragedies, Lilia’s date nursed the broken arm he suffered as he tried to pull her from danger.

Gonzalo Espinoza, 16, said he and Lilia had been walking down a hillside road after leaving a restaurant banquet room in Burbank when they saw a car speeding toward them, headlights blazing.

Espinoza said he urged Lilia to cross the road quickly, but she struggled in her platform shoes.

“I tried to pull her,” he said. “She was scared. She stood still. There was nothing I could do. . . . Why would (the driver) just run straight at us? I just don’t understand.”

Police said the dark Chevrolet Camaro struck both teen-agers, hurling them to the pavement, then sped off.

Detectives said the restaurant was crowded at the time of the accident.

“There have to be witnesses,” said Burbank Police Detective Richard A. Bison. “Somebody saw this accident; there’s no doubt in my mind. Or somebody knows whose vehicle this was.”

“Somebody has to pay for what they did to her,” said the girl’s 21-year-old sister, Sonia. “I lost my baby sister on her birthday. . . . This is so unfair. We need help.”