Girl, 7, Dies After Being Hit by Pickup

A 7-year-old girl was killed and her 10-year-old friend injured Saturday after they stepped from behind an ice cream truck onto an Anaheim street and were struck by a pickup, police said.

The accident shattered what had been a peaceful autumn afternoon on East Date Street, a residential neighborhood that is home to many children.

According to investigators, the 18-year-old driver made a sharp turn onto Date Street and could not see the children as they emerged from behind the truck.

“The kids were behind the ice cream truck. They ran right into the pickup,” Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez said. “The driver was just devastated.”

Mara Sanchez was rushed to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she died from head injuries. The injured boy, Timothy Mitchell, was treated for scrapes and bruises.

A family friend said Mara came to the neighborhood from Mexico a year ago to live with her father. Timothy had helped her learn English.

“She was a really special, bright little girl,” said Timothy’s mother, Penny Mitchell. “She loved to sing and dance. They put on little backyard shows.”

While counting her family’s blessings, Penny Mitchell recalled how residents have fought for many years to get motorists to slow down in their neighborhood, on the northeast side of the city. Motorists turning from West Date Street onto East Date Street must make a blind horseshoe turn that should be taken slowly, she said.

“It isn’t the first accident that’s happened at the corner, people taking the turn too fast,” Mitchell said. “It’s been tough, especially with the young people. This is a hard way for them to get it. It’s the wrong way.”

Police do not think alcohol or excessive speed was a factor in Saturday’s accident, Martinez said. The driver, a Norco resident, was questioned by police and released. His truck was held for a routine examination, Martinez said.

Mitchell said she expects her son to be released from the hospital after precautionary X-rays. She was trying to arrange counseling to help him deal with the grief of witnessing a friend’s death.

“I’m fairly certain he’ll be OK. He was banged up. He was in a lot of shock,” she said.

Mara’s father had not returned from the hospital and could not be reached Saturday night.

The ice cream truck driver, who was parked at the time of the collision, drove away before police arrived. Anaheim police said they could not find a business license for the company name that witnesses said was printed on the side of the vehicle.

Martinez asked that anyone with information about the ice cream truck driver contact investigator Rick Alexander at (714) 765-1861 or investigator Steve McIntosh at (714) 765-1835.