If you haven�t heard by now, it saddens me to report that a Long Beach family was devastated on Friday night when a driver collided with the wagon that was carrying a one year-old girl and a two year-old boy at the intersection of 10th & Redondo.� The mother and father were returning home from a walk with their children when the driver � who has been cited for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license � slammed into the wagon.� The boy will survive with cuts and scrapes, but sadly, the young girl passed away at the scene.� The Press-Telegram�s Kelly Puente originally broke the story on Friday night and you can read the truly disturbing details there.

I visited the makeshift memorial for young Kaylee Alvarez this afternoon, and found a small crowd of people reflecting on the tragedy.� Candles, flowers, stuffed animals and handwritten notes adorned the streetlight in memory of Kaylee and in support of her mourning family.� Kaylee�s uncle, Guadalupe Soto, was putting the finishing touches on a notice that directs well-wishers to the family�s donation account � all funds will go to Kaylee�s funeral expenses.

�We appreciate it a lot,� Soto told me. �A lot of people have come to help us. They�re saying they can�t believe what happened, and that not even an animal could do something like that.�

Soto spoke with his sister, Kaylee�s mother, on the phone just ten minutes before the accident as the family was returning from a walk to Wilson High school � the alma mater of both parents. They talked about plans to attend another niece�s quinceanera celebration that was planned for the 19th. That date has now been reserved for Kaylee�s funeral.

A few minutes later, Soto received a call from his father, who explained that there had been an accident and no one had been able to locate Kaylee.� As Soto rushed to the scene, his sister called � she was en route to the hospital with her injured son, but had no idea where her daughter was.

�She was saying, �Find my daughter, find my daughter,�� Soto explains.� �I said, �I�m gonna find her.��

He arrived at the intersection and demanded answers from officers, who took him aside and said that Kaylee had been found, and that she had passed away. He was heartbroken.

�I let them tell her,� he says.� �It�s something that was too hard for me to tell her.�

A family has been shattered through no fault of their own, and now they are asking for help.� The Press-Telegram today reports that the family has set up an account at Wescom Credit Union for anyone who wishes to donate for Kaylee�s funeral. The account number is 708248.

Today, the District Weekly�s Theo Douglas rounds up the weekend�s news coverage of the event and explains his familiarity with the area after residing there for more than a decade.� He raises the question of safety on Redondo, and points to recent accidents.�

If I may add my own addition to Douglas� essay, I spent two years during college living just three blocks from the intersection that took the life of young Kaylee Alvarez.� I won�t say that there aren�t safety improvements to be made to Redondo, but it is my personal opinion that Friday night�s accident is a separate issue.� An accident occurred because a man who had no business operating a vehicle � according to the state of California � was doing so while under the influence.

So maybe the speed limit could be reduced along Redondo, or maybe an extra stoplight constructed or speed bumps installed.� Or maybe the lesson is that we must always hold ourselves and each other accountable, and understand when it is and is not appropriate to get behind the wheel of a car � because the person who made the decision to drive on Friday night may not have been slowed by an extra streetlight. That was his decision and the responsibility is his, not the intersection�s.

A family will have to live with that man�s decision for the rest of their lives, and if the horror of that thought will stop someone from making a bad decision, then we won�t need to make any changes to the street.

Again, the account number to donate to the Alvarez family is 708248 at Wescom Credit Union. Be safe.

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