A family in Pomona is devastated after a 6-year-old girl was killed and her 19-year-old sister was severely injured when a driver struck them as they were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk Tuesday night.
The collision occurred just after 8 p.m. at the intersection of Towne and Lexington avenues.
When officers with the Pomona Police Department arrived at the scene, they found 6-year-old Guadalupe Alvarez Salgado and her older sister, Mireya, lying in the street.
Mireya was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, where she remains in the intensive care unit. Guadalupe, or Lupe as everyone called her, was declared dead at the scene.
“It shook me to my core,” Mathew Leal, who has lived on the same property as the sisters for years, said. “Even though I didn’t really talk to her, I kind of watched her grow up. I was here since she was born. I’m so sorry for their loss. We’re always going to be there for them.”
Lupe, who lived nearby with her family, was a student at Philadelphia Elementary School, less than a mile from the scene of the crash.
Neighbors told KTLA that the sisters and their mother, who was reportedly walking right behind them when they were struck, were coming back from a walk to the store, something they did often.
Police say a 19-year-old from Upland driving a silver Honda Accord was traveling northbound on Towne Avenue when he hit the sisters.
The 19-year-old stopped after the collision and cooperated with police. In video of the scene obtained by KTLA, he can be seen taking a sobriety test administered by officers.
Guadalupe Alavarez Salgado, 6, and her sister, Mireya, 19, seen in this undated family picture. (viewer photo) 
Guadalupe Alvarez Salgado, 6, seen in this undated family picture. (viewer photo) 
Pomona police seen administering a sobriety test to the 19-year-old driver on May 28, 2024. (KNN) 
The 19-year-old driver from Upland seen cooperating with police after the deadly collision on May 28, 2024. (KNN) 
Car captured on surveillance camera moments before the deadly crash on May 28, 2024. (viewer photo)
Ernesto Ramirez, who lives on the corner, was outside with his kids and witnessed the deadly crash.
In Spanish, he told Nelson that his wife called 911 while he was in a state of shock.
Another neighbor’s camera captured footage of the fatal collision, which shows one vehicle approaching the intersection and appearing to slow down. Seconds later, another car comes into the intersection traveling much faster and a loud noise from the impact is heard.
While police have yet to confirm if the vehicle in the video is the Honda Accord involved in the crash, it was captured by the nearby camera around the same time as the crash.
Many neighbors told KTLA that the intersection is dangerous and that there have been many accidents, with some speeding drivers having little regard for families or kids walking home from the several nearby schools.
“A lot of people do speed here,” Leal said.
Investigators do not believe that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, but said they will be looking at other factors, including whether the 19-year-old was speeding or was distracted at the time of the crash.
