Local Santa Maria Business Helping After Tragic Traffic Incident

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - A family-owned Santa Maria business is helping to raise funds for the family of a little girl who lost her life last weekend.

On Friday the 13th just before 3:00 in the afternoon, one-year-old Leilani Diaz Vazquez was being pushed in a stroller by her 20-year-old mother at the intersection of north Broadway and Fesler in Santa Maria.

At the same time, an 18-year-old Santa Maria resident in a car was making a right turn onto Broadway.

Witnesses say the signal turned green for traffic and displayed the “walk” emblem simultaneously, and the mother and daughter were struck by the turning vehicle as they entered the crosswalk.

Management of Family Motors, the business occupying that corner, say police response was immediate.

The mother and daughter were rushed to the hospital, the mother having suffered multiple broken bones.

One-year-old Leilani Diaz Vazquez died at the hospital.

The community is building a memorial display at the intersection, with posters, flowers, candles, stuffed animals, and even food items.

"The little girl's father was out here on Saturday taking donations from, the community that was pulling up to show their support," says Alexander Orellana, one of the managers at Family Motors Of Santa Maria. "So what we ended up doing was creating these little boxes, these donation boxes for them so they can more easily accept the donations."

Donations can be dropped off in person any time during business hours.

A GoFundMe is also active, and can be reached through this link.

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