Friends, Family Mourn Schoolboy

Friends and family crammed into Enrique and Juana Silva’s modest house Saturday afternoon, consoling the couple whose 7-year-old son was crushed to death Friday in a schoolyard accident.

Second-grader Steve Silva died after being pinned to a wall by an electric utility cart during a teacher-supervised after-school session at Roscoe Elementary School.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division is investigating the incident, and school district officials have vowed to pursue a separate investigation and review district safety policies.

In the Silva’s kitchenette, friends and family members spoke mostly about their memories of the energetic boy.

“He was great,” said sister Vanessa Silva, 14. “He was sweet--real hyper. He played around a lot, liked to go skating.”

Enrique Silva said his son had been “a very special kid, for his parents and all of those who knew him.”

Silva said he wouldn’t discuss the details of the accident--such details, he said, would come out in the investigations.

“I wouldn’t want this to happen to any parent,” said Silva, who emigrated from El Salvador in 1983, at the height of that country’s civil war. “With this experience, we see that our kids aren’t safe anywhere--not even in school.”

Vanessa wondered if the incident could have been avoided with better planning. “I think they shouldn’t leave the cars laying around,” she said.

Students were playing on or near the unattended cart on the playground about 3 p.m., when it began rolling down an incline, pinning the second-grader against a building.

The boy sustained head and neck injuries and was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he was pronounced dead, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s office officials.

School Principal Mary Kurzeka said Saturday the cart is usually parked in a shed and not used when children are outside playing but that a janitor had left it on the playground “to quickly unload something.”

Some parents learned about the accident on Saturday morning when they dropped off their children for a field trip and were offered counseling by the school district’s crisis team.

After visiting the school and the boy’s parents on Friday, Los Angeles Unified Supt. Roy Romer returned to the Sun Valley school on Saturday to show support for the school community.

Roscoe Elementary staff members will meet Monday morning for counseling and instruction on how to discuss the accident with students. Counselors will be at the school for children, parents and staff throughout the day, school district officials said.

A school district spokeswoman said Saturday that Romer will lead the accident investigation.

“It will be Supt. Romer’s stated objective to determine what we might learn from this incident that might affect districtwide operations,” spokeswoman Stephanie Brady said.