Front-Yard Tree Falls, Kills Woman

An 18-year-old woman was killed Monday when a eucalyptus tree in her front yard fell on her as workers were trying to remove it.

Rosa Compean was walking a cousin to her car in the 800 block of East McFadden Avenue when the accident happened at 3:40 p.m.

Her brother-in-law, Pedro Sanchez, 35, who owns the house, said he had hired two men he met at a swap meet to remove the tree and install a wrought iron fence around the front yard. They had arrived early that morning and had worked throughout the day to remove the branches, leaving a 30-foot stump.

To ease removal of the stump, the men decided to dig out the roots. Where they couldn’t dig, they cut the roots with axes.

They did not expect the tree to fall when it did, Fire Department Battalion Chief John Chambers said.

“I don’t think they saw it coming,” he said.

The top of the tree, which was about 18 inches in diameter, struck Compean on the head and she died of massive head injuries, he said.

Her husband, Jose Sanchez, 25, had been sitting with their 7-month-old baby several feet from her, relatives said.

“Everyone screamed and ran to help her, but it was too late,” said Manuel Sanchez, another brother-in-law.

When paramedics told Compean’s husband and another relative that she had been killed, they “ran off hysterically crying,” Chambers said.

Elias Talbert, who lives in the same block, said the eucalyptus tree had been there since he moved to the neighborhood 44 years ago. Eucalyptus trees were used as a windbreak for the orange groves that occupied the area before it became developed, he said.

Fire officials Monday warned the public to avoid cutting down large trees themselves and to consult a tree removal or landscaping expert.

Pedro Sanchez said he had been talking at a swap meet to the two men about work he wanted done on his property, and they had offered to do it. He said he did not know what their background was. A price of $4,775 was agreed upon, and he paid $1,500 up front, Sanchez said.

On Monday night, the family placed a religious statue and candles at the site of Compean’s death and gathered to pray.

Compean, who was born in El Paso, Tex., had moved to Santa Ana three years ago after marrying Jose Sanchez. She was a homemaker and “was very excited about being a mother,” said Yolanda Pindo, 30, of Whittier, a cousin. “And she was very close to the baby.”