After an 11-year-old boxing champion was hit by a car in an unincorporated area near El Cajon and later died, residents and the boy’s coach are pushing for safety improvements to the street they say has been dangerous for years.
On the morning of Dec. 21, Kevin Ouda was running with some of his teammates on First Street near Sumner Avenue, about a block away from their gym. A dog jumped toward the group, and Kevin jumped back.
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A Chevrolet Cobalt headed north hit Kevin, according to the California Highway Patrol. He was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital where he was on life support for more than a week. His family took him off life support Sunday, and he died that same day.
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CHP said the driver was 74 years old. The agency did not mention speed but noted drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the crash. The investigation into the incident remained ongoing, CHP said.
Several people who live on First Street said they’ve had safety concerns for years, as the street has no sidewalks, streetlights, stop signs, speed bumps or any other traffic calming measures.
“It’s pretty dangerous. People speed,” said Natasha Brown, who’s lived in the area her whole life and witnessed the aftermath of the crash that killed Kevin.
She said incidents like that are not uncommon.
“There's no real way to walk. You usually have to walk in the street to get around cars that are parked and then people are constantly almost hitting you,” Brown said. “A lot of cars sideswiping, cars getting hit, cars pulling out of their driveways getting hit. We’ve seen a lot of people get hit, animals get hit. It’s just unfortunate.”
“It’s sad, and it sucks. It sucks to see. It sucks to see people get hurt. It just makes you feel really bad because you can’t help,” Brown added.
The area is unincorporated, maintained by San Diego County.
“The County maintains almost 2,000 miles of roads in the region and evaluates them for vehicle and pedestrian safety,” the county said in a statement. “The County-maintained road in El Cajon had no history of pedestrian incidents, and the speed limit was recently lowered from 35 to 30 miles per hour. We send our condolences to the family and friends impacted by this tragic accident.”
When asked about safety concerns and if the county will explore any changes in the wake of the crash, the county added that it “will reevaluate the safety of the portion of the road it maintains to identify any potential measures” and noted residents can report issues and submit service requests in its “Tell Us Now” app.
“It's a scary place to live in because it's a really busy street,” said Cynthia, who has two young children. She said her older son loves soccer, but she won’t let him play in their front yard.
“I honestly see cars just driving really, like, recklessly,” she said. “You're not comfortable, you know, you can't have your kid play outside while you're inside doing something just because it's not safe.”
Kevin’s family laid him to rest in a private ceremony and burial Tuesday morning. His coach James Gregory said he was “a very pure, innocent and wonderful young man” who worked hard in the gym and at home.
“Although I know Kevin is in heaven now, at peace, we would like to see justice for him, as well as safety for the street right here so that, God forbid, something similar doesn't happen to another child in the future,” Gregory said.
“I would not want this to happen to another child like it happened to Kevin,” he said.
