EL MONTE — A neighborhood mourned the loss of a 2-year-old boy Sunday who was fatally struck by a pickup truck during his sister’s birthday party.
Nathan Huaracha died at Greater El Monte Community Hospital shortly after Saturday’s 5:45 p.m. accident in the 3600 block of Maxson Road, police and coroner’s officials said.
Huaracha’s mother declined to comment Sunday, however a young girl who identified herself as the boy’s sister said the family was devastated.
“Our family all misses him,” she said.
The crash occurred as Huaracha’s family was holding a birthday party for his sister, neighbor Christina Sanchez, 23, said.
The neighbor said the energetic boy could often be seen playing with the neighborhood’s many other children, including her 2-year-old nephew.
“Nathan would always come to my house and knock on my door and ask if (my nephew) could play,” Sanchez said. “He was always running around.”
Neighbors added to a memorial of pictures, balloons, flowers, religious symbols, candles, candy and a Teddy bear on the site of the fatal accident Sunday afternoon.
The accident occurred in a shared private driveway in front of the boy’s home, El Monte police Lt. Beatriz Guadarrama said.
The 34-year-old El Monte woman who was driving the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was not cited or arrested in what police believed to be a tragic accident, El monte police Lt. Michelle States said Sunday.
She had come to the neighborhood to visit one of Huaracha’s neighbors, States added.
A group of young children gathered in the neighborhood said they missed playing with Huaracha.