Teen boy killed, sister hurt in L.A. crash. Neighbors say speeding has been an issue for years

It was an all-too-familiar series of sounds for residents living in the small South L.A neighborhood.

A car barreling down the street, screeching tires — then a sharp, hollow thud and a loud bang.

Hyde Park resident Jerome Alexander said he expected to come out of his home to see a car lodged into another vehicle following the latest cacophony Tuesday night. Instead, he saw chaos: A mother screaming, a little girl on the ground and a blue car swerving in an attempt to dislodge a teenage boy from its windshield.

Alexander, 38, and other neighbors rushed to the aid of the children, who had been struck as they attempted to cross near the intersection of 60th Street and 10th Avenue.

Juanita Martinez, center, the aunt of Hernan Martinez, 16, cries as she talks about the accident along 60th Street in the Hyde Park area of Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Alexander said when he reached the boy, he was bleeding from his head and had a very faint pulse.

Quincy King, 37, said he saw the teen on the ground, his body twisted. He said the car had knocked his shoes off, torn his shirt and partially stripped away his pants.

Paramedics arrived, and declared the boy dead.

“When the mother saw the paramedics look at each other, she was inconsolable,” Alexander said in an interview outside his home.

Los Angeles police said they’re now looking for the driver and passenger involved in the deadly hit and run. Neighbors said the two fled from the crash scene on foot, leaving behind a baby in a car seat.

Eliseo Martinez holds up a photo of his brothe,r Hernan Martinez, 16, who lost his life after being hit by a car on 60th Street in the Hyde Park area of Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Alexander said he believes the suspects live in the neighborhood. A third person, he said, showed up to retrieve the child in the car seat.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department could not immediately confirm that a child was in the car.

The fatal accident happened about 9:35 p.m. when a vehicle traveling east on 60th Street struck the two children before smashing into a parked car, according to LAPD Officer Alondra Garcia.

Garcia confirmed that the vehicle’s driver and a passenger got out and ran off without calling for help or rendering any aid to the pedestrians. Video from OnScene, a news service, showed the vehicle crunched with its airbags deployed.

Neighbors gather outside after two siblings crossing the street in Hyde Park were hit by a car.

(OnScene.TV)

Authorities have not yet officially identified the victims in the crash. But Eliseo Martinez, 20, said they were his younger brother Hernan, 16; and his 13-year-old sister, Vicky.

He said Vicky was in stable condition Wednesday, awaiting surgery for a fractured pelvis. She’s unaware that their brother died, he said.

“I can’t even begin to process what’s happened, to be honest,” Eliseo Martinez said. “I’m still thinking he’s at home, like I’m going to go home and tackle him, but, you know, that’s not going to happen.”

Martinez said his brother was a talented young man who loved baking, cooking, and arts and crafts.

“He always listened to my mom and would get mad at me when I didn’t listen,” he said, smiling. “He was a bit shy and was [on] home school. He got good grades, as well as my sister.”

Martinez said it had only been a week since they moved to the neighborhood. That night, his mother and siblings had driven to a pharmacy to pick up his sister’s asthma medication. They had parked and were crossing the street to their home when the crash occurred.

Martinez is asking any witnesses to come forward and help authorities locate the people responsible.

The crash has left neighbors frustrated and angry. They said they’ve complained to police and City Hall about the intersection before.

Alexander said his husband was struck by a car in May, prompting him to reach out to the City Council about the speeding problems in the neighborhood.

Alexander and other neighbors said they hope the city will install speed bumps to slow drivers.

“They don’t even stop,” said neighborhood resident Teresa Sanders, 59. “It’s a big problem.”

A camera outside Edgar Zepeda’s home captured the car speeding through the neighborhood before the crash.

Zepeda, 58, said he’s lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and has seen multiple accidents. For years, he said, there were no stop signs at the intersection.

Three or four years ago, he said his parked car was rear-ended when a driver sped down the street and lost control. Other neighbors’ cars and several people have been hit, too.

“I always knew that someday something like this would happen,” he said, pointing to where the children were struck. “There’s a lot of drivers that don’t respect the traffic sign.”

Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.