Some things are just too sad to process.
Like the needless death of a toddler as she rides a bike next to her mother.
And the arrest of a teenaged boy for the hit-and-run that took her life.
The Los Angeles Times reports that three-year old Odalys Navarro died Monday, four days after she was run down from behind by someone on a dirt bike as she rode her bicycle in the rural Riverside County community of Mead Valley.
Her mother, who is five months pregnant, was also seriously injured in the August 31st crash.
The CHP places that crash near the intersection of Steele Peak Drive and Palm Street shortly after 7:30 pm, as they were coming home from the park on the dirt sidewalk.
The motorcycle rider fled the scene.
This is how Rubi Navarro, the victim’s mother, described the crash on a crowdfunding page.
It was a Thursday afternoon 8/31 that was supposed to be filled with joy and laughter, tragedy struck. A hit-and-run incident involving a motorcycle left my child and myself lying on the ground, fighting for our lives. It is difficult to put into words the pain and anguish my family has endured since that fateful day.
My little girl, who was only 3 years old going on to 4 in about a month and I were walking home from the park when the motorcycle came out of nowhere. The impact was severe, leaving both of us with life-threatening injuries. The reckless driver, without a shred of humanity, callously fled the scene, leaving my family shattered and broken.
CHP investigators later found the suspect and his dirt bike, and booked the 17-year old boy on charges of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run causing fatal injuries.
His name was withheld because he’s a juvenile. Which means that, unless he’s charged as an adult, he can only be held until he turns 21, even if he’s convicted.
The crowdfunding campaign to pay Odalys Navarro’s funeral costs, and her and her mother’s medical expenses, has raised a little more than $5,000 of the $25,000 goal.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the CHP’s Riverside investigators at 951/637-8000.
This is at least the 34th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and sixth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
There’s nothing sadder than a ghost bike for a child.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Odalys Navarro and all her family.
Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
