Stop Signs Posted in Wake of Child’s Death

Responding to parents’ protests, Lynwood city workers Thursday began painting crosswalks and installing stop signs at an intersection next to a school where a 3-year-old boy was fatally injured by a sport utility vehicle the day before.

“This is a good start. We have everything we need but the crossing guards,” said Leonora Robles, treasurer of Lindbergh Elementary School’s Parent-Teacher Assn., after she saw the new stripes and signs at Cedar and Longvale avenues.

Earlier in the day, Robles and more than 200 other angry parents packed a town hall meeting to demand that the city make streets close to schools safer for children.

For years, residents complained to city officials that the intersections next to Lindbergh were dangerous because they did not have stop signs, marked crosswalks and crossing guards.

On Wednesday morning, Gilberto Diaz Jr. was killed and his mother was injured after they had walked his sister to school. His mother, Esperanza Diaz, has been released from the hospital. “She’s very bruised and battered. She’s hurting, mentally and physically,” said Jose Perez, a family friend.

Deputies said the accident is still being investigated but that the driver, a 34-year-old Lynwood woman, did not violate any laws. In the meantime, community members have been bringing flowers, stuffed animals and balloons to leave as a memorial to Gilberto.

At the standing-room-only meeting Thursday in an auditorium at the Lynwood Unified School District headquarters, City Manager Ralph Davis said city officials “will do all that we can to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

About 25 parents took turns speaking, voicing frustration that the city had not paid attention to their concerns.

By Thursday afternoon, six crosswalks were being painted and three stop signs were posted at the intersection.