Car Found Whose Wheel Killed Child

California Highway Patrol investigators have identified the source of a loose wheel that flew across the median of the Artesia Freeway and killed a 5-year-old Buena Park girl, officials said Friday.

The owner of a white 1981 Buick Regal is under investigation for possible felony hit-and-run and involuntary manslaughter charges, said CHP spokesperson Sylvia Santana.

The Buick was headed east in the carpool lane near Shoemaker Road in Cerritos on Wednesday morning when the front wheel on the driver’s side broke free and smashed the passenger side of a westbound Jeep Cherokee.

The impact of the wheel caused the passenger side of the Jeep to cave in and inflicted massive head injuries on Krista Graham, who was strapped into a car seat, investigators said. She was pronounced dead at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Her mother was not injured.

The Buick was found an hour after the accident in a residential area near the Carmenita Road exit about a quarter-mile from the scene, Santana said. CHP investigators located the car by following marks on the road left by the metal exposed when the wheel came loose.

Santana said the owner of the car, whose name was not released, has been contacted by CHP investigators.

They will try to determine whether the driver fled the accident scene in “a hit-and-run situation, or if it was something where [the driver] knew he lost his tire but was unaware of the consequences and just drove off the freeway,” Santana said.