REDONDO BEACH, Cali. – Hours before an alleged DUI driver was expected to appear in court Friday, authorities announced that a fourth victim, a 6-year-old boy, died as a result of a collision outside a Redondo Beach church that had already claimed the lives of three people, including his own mother.
The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner confirmed early Friday that Samuel Gaza died the previous night at a hospital.
His death came one day after he and 10 other pedestrians were struck by an alleged DUI driver who plowed into a group of pedestrians as they were leaving an elementary school Christmas concert held at St. James Catholic Church.
Samuel, a kindergartner St. James Catholic School, was in critical condition after being pulled from under the tire of a vehicle, according to parishioners and a witness.
The little boy’s mother, 36-year-old Martha Gaza, was killed in the crash, which also left three other family members injured.
Gaza’s husband, Glen, remained at a local hospital Thursday where he was last reported to be in stable condition. The conditions of the couple’s two other children were not immediately known.
Nine others — including the alleged DUI driver, 56-year-old Margo Bronstein — were injured, police said.Two others, 81-year-old Mary Wilson and 87-year-old Saeko Matsumura, also died in the collision. All four people who died were from Torrance.
The crash occurred at approximately 8 p.m. Wednesday on Pacific Coast Highway at Vincent Street.
Vehicles were stopped at the light at Vincent Street when Bronstein, who was traveling northbound, drove around them and ran the red light, Lt. Joe Hoffman of the Redondo Beach Police Department said Thursday at a news conference.
After slamming into the pedestrians, Bronstein’s vehicle veered into southbound lanes on PCH and collided head-on into an SUV, according to Hoffman.
One witness, Michael Tovar, got choked up Thursday morning as he described how Samuel lay trapped beneath one of the vehicles.
“I looked down to the car right in front of me and underneath the left front tire was a little boy,” a visibly upset Tovar said through tears. “He was just laying there underneath the tire… It was just awful.”
Bronstein was arrested on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. She was expected to make her first court appearance Friday in Torrance.
Bronstein was being held on $300,000 bail.
