On Wednesday, a two-year-old boy and his babysitter were tragically struck and killed while crossing a street in Riverside.
Now, their photos sit at the center of the growing memorial across from Liberty Elementary, as loved ones pay their respects.
Eligia Morales was 2-year-old Julian's babysitter. The two were tragically hit and killed while in a marked crosswalk after picking up Julian's 7-year-old sister from school Wednesday.
"He was just a pleasant little soul," Roxanna Maxam, the crossing guard at the corner of Hayes and Roosevelt Streets, said.
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Maxam had just left 40 minutes prior to the crash.
"If you’re driving a vehicle in any street you watch for pedestrians," Maxam said. "Especially a school zone. Kids are little, you can’t see past your hood, you may not see them."
Riverside police say the 46-year-old woman driving a 2020 Range Rover was making a left turn when she hit Morales, Julian and his sister. She was the only one who survived.
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"The daughter just looks at them crying, she doesn’t understand," Juan Guzman, a family friend, said. "She doesn’t know she seen them laying there."
The children's father was inconsolable as he returned to the scene.
"Que vamos hacer," Luciano Ros the victim's father said.
What are we going to do, he asks?
He says he wishes his son Julian, who would have turned three in June, could call him dad one more time.
Riverside Police say the driver did stop after the crash, and is cooperating with the investigation. It does not appear drugs, alcohol, or speed played a factor in this crash.
