Preschool Where 2 Died Is Closed

A Costa Mesa preschool where two students were killed and five others injured after a man intentionally drove his Cadillac into a crowded playground in 1999 has quietly closed its doors.

The Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center, which survived that tragedy as well as a bruising battle with neighbors opposed to a security fence installed in the wake of the killings, closed Sept. 1.

Closure of the school, which had as many as 80 students at the time of the killings, came less than a week after Steven Allen Abrams was convicted of murder in the deaths of Brandon Wiener, 3, and Sierra Soto, 4.

Southcoast director Sheryl Hawkinson, who suffered a heart attack at a memorial service for the two children killed in the May 3 crime, could not be reached for comment Monday.

But Pastor Leon Sikes of the Lighthouse Coastal Community Church, which leased the site to Hawkinson, said the day-care owner had stepped down to spend more time with her family, including a son born in April.

Doctors induced labor because the child was due on the anniversary of the crime. Hawkinson said she decided to give birth on a different day out of respect for the memory of the children killed.

“It’s been a nonstop thing for her,” Sikes said. “It’s been very, very tough on her. She came to us this summer and said she wanted to spend time with her new baby.”

Abrams, who said he committed the murders to silence “brain wave police” who were urging him to kill, still awaits sentencing. Jurors first must determine if Abrams was sane when he committed the crime.

Officials of the church, across Magnolia Street from the center, said they have no plans to open another preschool on the site. Instead, they plan to use classrooms beneath its offices for church-related activities. A second school owned by Hawkinson in Costa Mesa has been taken over by a new owner and has reopened under the name Southcoast Children’s Center, but it has no affiliation with Hawkinson.

Many parents were surprised by the stricken school’s abrupt closure, said Danielle Collard, who enrolled her son Noah there in February.

“I asked her when I signed my son up whether she was going to stay open, because I didn’t want to put him in a school and then have to take him out,” she said. Collard said she was assured that the center would be around for a long time.

But in mid-August, parents were notified that they would have to find alternative child care within two weeks. Collard enrolled her son at Vineyard Christian School, where she first made sure there was a secure fence around the playground.

Collard added that she was not entirely surprised to hear that the school was closing, noting that teachers and students sometimes seemed to be distracted and grieving. “I think it was admirable what Sheryl did.”

The 16 months since the heartbreaking crime have brought other problems to the small school. In the spring, the families of Sierra Soto and Brandon Wiener sued the school, accusing it of negligence.

Those suits are still pending, but Leo Paredes, the lawyer for Sierra’s mother, Cindy, said he does not believe his client’s case has anything to do with the school being shut.

“We don’t care if the school stays open or closed,” Paredes said. Soto’s suit seeks damages from the school’s insurance company, which could be found liable whether or not the school remains in business. “All we’re concerned about is whether the children are safe.”

Neighbors also put up a fierce fight against the construction of a $50,000 security fence around Southcoast, arguing that it created a visibility hazard for drivers near the school, and that it was illegally built on city property.

But Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan said the city had not acceded to neighbors’ requests to impose sanctions on the school, adding that he was saddened to hear of its closure.

“I think it’s sad that a tragedy like the Abrams case could be the catalyst in taking a good operation out of the picture,” Monahan said. “The folks out there really tried to do some good things for the kids.”

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Out of Business

A Costa Mesa preschool, where a driver intentionally killed two children last year, closed Sept. 1