Memorial Brings Community Together

They were mostly working-class Latinos who gathered Sunday in Boyle Heights to lend their support to a neighborhood family that had suffered the kind of heart wrenching tragedy they could all understand.

More than 100 neighbors and family members attended a memorial service at a church near a busy intersection where a pregnant woman and her two young children were killed when they were struck by a car as they waited to cross the street Friday.

Killed were Analidia Villasenor, 29, who was four months pregnant, and her sons Antonio Zepeda, 5, and Jose Zepeda, 13 months. Another son, David Zepeda, 3, was injured but is recovering at home, family members said.

Oscar Zepeda, the widower and grieving father, said Sunday he was touched by the community support and hoped the tragedy will prompt police to address a long-standing speeding problem in the neighborhood.

“There are two churches and two schools in the area and I think the police need to crack down on speeders here,” a tired looking Zepeda said before the service.

Zepeda and his family did not attend Iglesia Camino al Cielo, the Baptist church where the memorial service was held. But members of the congregation said they held the service because they sympathize with the family. A collection raised nearly $2,000 for funeral expenses.

“We are all humans and at moments like this we need to help our neighbors,” Pastor German Galvez told the congregation that crowded into the small, modest church.

Neighbors and church members said they have complained for years about speeding near the intersection of South Lorena and Beswick streets, where the accident occurred.

Villasenor and her sons were among dozens of parents walking their children to school Friday morning when a blue van making a left turn crashed into an oncoming gray Nissan Maxima. The Maxima spun across the intersection toward the sidewalk, sending Villasenor and her children flying into the wrought-iron fence of Iglesia Camino al Cielo.

The driver of the van was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, police said. The driver of the other car was questioned and released.

Several Boyle Heights residents said they have circulated petitions in the past asking for speed bumps or increased police patrols. Neighbors say another pedestrian was hit and killed about two months ago about two blocks from the site of Friday’s accident. Police could not confirm the previous accident.

“It’s a deathtrap street,” said Art Herrera, a lifelong Boyle Heights resident. “I walk my kid to school and cars go, not 15 or 25 miles per hour, but 50 or 60 miles per hour.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Nick Pacheco has promised to hold a community meeting at nearby Lorena Street School to discuss pedestrian safety. He also vowed to talk to the city’s Department of Transportation about traffic problems on the busy thoroughfare.

“What if this had happened right after a service at the church?” asked church member Enrique Martinez. “The sidewalks would be full of people leaving.”

Zepeda, a carpenter, and his wife moved to Los Angeles from Mexico about five years ago. The couple recently bought a yellow stucco home on nearby Opal Street, which Zepeda was planning to fix up. Villasenor was a stay-at-home mother who stressed the importance of education to her sons, family members said.

During the service, a teary-eyed Zepeda was comforted by several family members, including his wife’s parents, Carlos and Maria Villasenor, who traveled to Los Angeles from their home in Jalisco, Mexico.

Galvez sought to comfort Zepeda and his family by preaching about the wonders of the hereafter, which he said is free of death, sorrow or tragedy.

Zepeda said a representative for boxer Oscar De La Hoya, the East Los Angeles Olympic gold medal winner, called him Saturday to offer to pay for the family’s funeral expenses.

As the service ended, church members hugged or shook hands with Zepeda, who seemed weak and tired but responded with a nod or a smile. Throughout the day, neighbors stopped to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial of candles and hand-drawn signs at the site of the accident. One sign read: “Respect human life, slow down.”

Family members say Zepeda has been trying to maintain a stoic appearance for his two surviving sons, David, 3, and William, 12. But they said he has been crushed by the tragedy.

“They took almost all of his family,” said Rosa Mejia, Zepeda’s cousin. “Still, this tragedy has united us all.”