A suspected drunken driver crashed her car into an apartment in South Los Angeles Thursday, killing a 5-year-old boy and injuring five other people, including his parents, who were hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
It happened at 12:16 a.m., when the compact pierced the east side of a ground floor apartment at a two-story, six-unit building in the 2800 block of South Central Avenue, near Adams Boulevard, Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Los Angeles police Lt. Nate Williams told NBC4 the sedan crashed into the wall of a family’s bedroom, and a father, a mother and their son were pinned underneath the vehicle. Their two teenage daughters were also inside the apartment and suffered minor injuries, and all were taken to the hospital, Williams said.
Humphrey said the child, Luis Sanchez, was the hardest to free and was taken in grave condition to a hospital, where he died, Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.
Near the child amid the chaos was a note he had written asking Santa for a bicycle for Christmas, according to police.
The driver, 23-year-old Vrenda Moreno of La Puente, was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, and she was arrested and booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, said LAPD Officer Mike Lopez.
She was held on $100,000 bail.
Williams quoted the driver as saying she slammed into the building because she swerved to avoid a driver who cut her off.
