A Year After 2 Children Died at Preschool, Pain Lingers

Aaron and Pam Wiener moved to Costa Mesa three years ago, trying to escape the terror they experienced while living in the San Fernando Valley.

First Pam was rattled when she was robbed at gunpoint in January 1997 as she was leaving a friend’s Van Nuys home. The gunman took about $150 from her, but more importantly, he stole her sense of security, she said.

A month later, gunfire erupted in front of a North Hollywood bank, three blocks away from the preschool Brandon, one of her three children, attended. As the two gunmen clad in bullet-resistant body armor went on a shooting rampage, Brandon and his playmates were escorted out of the preschool by police officers.

Fearing for their children’s safety, the couple decided to move--only to find that random violence has no boundaries.

Brandon, only 3, and Sierra Soto, a 4-year-old girl, were killed on May 3, 1999, when a motorist rammed through a chain-link fence and onto a day-care center playground in Costa Mesa. Several other children were injured.

The driver, who is awaiting trial on murder charges, reportedly told police he wanted to execute “innocent” children.

On Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of her son’s death, Pam Wiener was painfully reminded of it. Standing over Brandon’s grave at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Burbank, she pondered the ironic circumstances of her son’s death.

“We thought we would be in a much safer place by moving to Orange County,” Wiener said as she placed flowers at the foot of Brandon’s headstone. “Violence is all around us, and unfortunately there are some things we aren’t in control of. It’s a real scary feeling.”

Wiener said Shaya, Brandon’s younger sister who accompanied her to the cemetery, hasn’t forgotten him either. Each time they visit his grave, Wiener said, Shaya claims she talks with her older brother. She says Brandon gives her hugs and kisses and he’s wearing a white dress.

“She sees him as an angel,” Wiener said. “Brandon says to her, ‘I don’t have an owie on my head anymore.’ I don’t know where she could come up with that, but I totally believe he’s talking with her.”

Wiener, who was born and raised in North Hollywood, said she and her husband decided to relocate because she felt the Valley wasn’t as safe as she remembered from her childhood. Her mother, still a Valley resident, used to leave her front door open, she said.

But as a mother of young children herself, Wiener said, she felt vulnerable and scared.

They considered moving to Arizona but opted for somewhere closer--Costa Mesa--the modestly affordable neighbor to ritzy Newport Beach. Brandon and Shaya were enrolled in the Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center. Brandon had been at the preschool for more than a year before he was killed.

On that day, shortly after 5 p.m., Wiener said, she was at the school talking with teachers when she heard a loud crash. Teachers ran outside and found an aging, copper-colored Cadillac had smashed into a tree. The driver was still in the car, staring blankly ahead.

Some of the children were running away from the playground; others, like Brandon and Sierra, lay seriously injured and partially trapped beneath the car.

Neighbors worked to lift the car and free the children.

Wiener said she caught a glimpse of her son before she was led screaming to a waiting car and taken to the hospital, where Brandon died a short time later.

“Every day since has seemed like a bad one,” she said. “There isn’t a minute that goes by when I’m not thinking about him.”

Wiener and Cindy Soto, the mother who lost her daughter, are working together as advocates for safety improvements at day-care centers. Both families have also sued the preschool, claiming negligence on the owner’s part.

The two women released balloons late Wednesday in a private ceremony at a Newport Beach cemetery where Sierra is buried.

At the day-care center in Costa Mesa, a spokeswoman said plans for a memorial service were canceled at the request of the parents. Through the day, however, a stream of other parents and neighbors visited the site, leaving flowers and other expressions of sympathy.

“I can’t believe it was a year ago that it happened,” said Kim Pickard, who lives near the center and brought her two children, ages 5 and 8, to lay a bouquet of backyard flowers at a memorial plaque.

“We said a little prayer for the families,” Pickard said. “I was feeling very sad today. I just thought it was important for my kids to know that this is not forgotten.”