Car Jumps Curb, Killing Woman, Child on Walk

Friends and co-workers grieved Sunday over the deaths of a toddler and a woman hit by a car that ran onto the sidewalk in Laguna Hills. The child’s mother was critically hurt.

Two-year-old Johana Patricia Barrientos Azarias and Libia Munoz, 41, died at the scene Saturday night when a silver Mercedes E320 driven by an unidentified woman jumped the curb on Hon Avenue near Alicia Parkway, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Johana’s mother, Sandra Barrientos Azarias, 31, also was hit and was in critical condition Sunday at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Doan said Munoz and Barrientos Azarias, who was pushing her daughter in a stroller, had just crossed the street and were on the sidewalk when they were hit.

Doan declined to identify the driver, saying the collision was still under investigation. However, he said that drugs and alcohol were not factors, and that she had not been charged with a crime.

Flor Pedroza, who visited Barrientos Azarias at the hospital Sunday morning, said she worked with her for six years and with Munoz for two years at Horizon Boarding Care, a facility for seniors in Mission Viejo. Barrientos Azarias and Munoz lived at the home, she said.

According to Pedroza, the two women ended their shift at 6 p.m. and walked to Pic ‘N’ Save on Alicia Parkway to shop. They were returning home when the accident occurred at 8:35 p.m.

At the time of her visit, Pedroza said, Barrientos Azarias did not know that her daughter had been killed.

“She was barely awake but recognized me,” Pedroza said. “She kept asking about Johana, but I told her everything was fine and to rest.”

Pedroza said that Barrientos Azarias was informed later in the day that her daughter had died.

She said that Barrientos Azarias was from El Salvador and that Munoz had emigrated from Colombia, where her son, Julian, 19, lives.

“I talked to him this morning and told him his mother was dead,” Pedroza said. “He was in shock, asking, ‘How can that be?’ ”

A memorial with teddy bears, flower bouquets and photos of the victims was placed at the site Sunday by people moved by the deaths. Some mourners expressed anger and frustration, calling for better lighting on the street.

“It’s very dark here. This should be a 25-mile-an-hour zone,” said Massoud Zadeh, owner of a Persian restaurant near the crash site.

Investigators are not sure whether darkness played a role in the accident and were still trying to determine the cause Sunday.

Charlene LaBelle, Pedroza’s niece, stopped by the scene with flowers Sunday

“They were both really sweet, hard-working people trying to get ahead,” LaBelle said. “But I guess God had a different plan for them.”