Woman Killed Walking on Freeway

A 91-year-old woman pushing a shopping cart on the Santa Monica Freeway was killed early Thursday when she was struck by at least three cars, authorities said.

The woman, Flora Mariez, was first hit at 1:35 a.m. by a 36-year-old Covina driver, who was traveling west at 60 mph, east of the Harbor Freeway near downtown. The driver did not see the woman, who was walking against traffic in the third lane over from the center divider.

Mariez died at the scene.

The first driver will not be cited, said CHP Sgt. Ralph Castro. Neither would the two other drivers “who admitted hitting her,” Castro said. “There may have been more.”

“The pedestrian was on the freeway in the dark where she didn’t belong,” he said.

“There was no way the drivers could have anticipated a pedestrian there. The second and third vehicles hit her when she was on the pavement, with even less chance of being seen.”

Authorities believe Mariez may have been homeless and living in one of the encampments by the freeway.

Little is known about Mariez. She owned no property in California and was not registered to vote. Her only public record lists a post office box in Los Angeles.

Authorities were unable to find any relatives, but they did discover her birth date: Dec. 15, 1909.

Four lanes of the freeway were closed for about two hours after the accident, CHP officials said.