Girl Hit by Car Dies; Mother’s Roommate Held

An 8-year-old girl was killed after her mother refused to ride home from a party with her roommate, whom she suspected of being drunk and who later rammed the child with her car, according to authorities.

The 34-year-old driver, Doreen Gutierrez, was arrested soon after the incident, which occurred around 9 p.m. Saturday as the girl, Sara Criado, her mother, Teresa Gutierrez, and 7-year-old brother left a neighborhood party near 30th Street East and Avenue S-4. The two women are not related.

Authorities say that while at the party Teresa Gutierrez began arguing with Doreen Gutierrez. Teresa Gutierrez thought her roommate, who is not related to her, had had too much to drink and refused to ride home with her, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Flamm.

So the mother and her two children left the party and began walking home north on 30th Street East toward Avenue S-4, Flamm said.

Doreen Gutierrez then drove her 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass alongside the family, trying to persuade Teresa Gutierrez to get in the car. When Teresa Gutierrez refused, Doreen Gutierrez became enraged and sped away, Flamm said.

But after driving a couple of blocks the woman backed up to where Teresa Gutierrez and her two children were walking, put the car in drive and attempted to run them over, according to Flamm.

“Teresa and the son eluded the car, but Sara was struck and killed instantly,” he said.

The woman attempted to drive away from the scene, but her car was blocked by the truck of a passing motorist who witnessed the incident. She fled on foot into the car of an unidentified friend, who drove her away from the scene, Flamm said.

A few blocks away, however, Doreen Gutierrez was arrested by Palmdale station deputies who were responding to the incident. She is being held without bail at the Palmdale sheriff’s station.