LOS ANGELES — A mother's screams pierced the night in South Los Angeles after a speeding hit-and-run driver slammed into her two teenage children as they crossed the street together, killing her 16-year-old son and leaving her 14-year-old daughter fighting for her life.
The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday near 60th Street and 10th Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood. A blue Nissan Sentra racing eastbound on 60th Street appeared to blow through a stop sign before striking the siblings, then smashed into a parked car and came to a halt.
Surveillance video captured the speeding vehicle and the immediate aftermath, including the sounds of screams as the family was torn apart in seconds. The 16-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene. His sister was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Their mother, who was crossing with them, was not hit but watched the horror unfold.
Witnesses said a woman jumped from the driver's seat and a man from the passenger side. Both fled on foot without stopping to help or identify themselves. One witness, Jerome Alexander, told reporters he saw them run and later stopped another person who tried to move the wrecked Nissan. "I looked up and saw that they hit a car and then a girl jumped out of the driver’s seat and a guy jumped out of the passenger seat and they took off running," Alexander said.
The abandoned Nissan sat with its front end crumpled, windshield shattered, airbags deployed, and trunk open. Firefighters and police taped off the scene as neighbors gathered, some embracing in grief. Residents have long complained that drivers regularly speed through the intersection and ignore the stop sign.
LAPD officers said the female driver and male passenger remain at large. No detailed descriptions have been released. Investigators are reviewing video and asking anyone with information to come forward.
The case is another reminder of how quickly a routine street crossing can turn deadly when a driver chooses speed over safety, and then chooses to run. Police continue searching for the pair who left a family shattered on a Hyde Park sidewalk.
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