At approximately 4:40 p.m. last Friday, 13-year-old Ciara Smith rolled her bicycle down a sidewalk curb cut, following a friend, as the two appeared ready to head south across Knob Hill Avenue at Pacific Coast Highway.
For reasons unclear, her bike pulled her into the right-most travel lane of southbound PCH, and she was struck by an L.A. Metro bus.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, her blue bicycle and its basket laying at the curb. Her friend was unharmed.
The busy intersection was populated with many witnesses, and eventually many onlookers. Some were employees of a nearby urgent care facility, some were friends and fellow students at Parras Middle School, where Ciara attended classes.
But before the night was over, a memorial had already sprung up at the southwest corner of PCH and Knob Hill, where flowers and candles were laid in honor of Ciara.
The night of
The collision, Redondo Beach police said, left no sign of being anything but an accident of happenstance.
The bus, traveling along the 232 route south to Long Beach, had been traveling at safe speeds, and had a green light to pass through the intersection.
Police further believe that Smith and her bicycle accidentally swerved into the traffic lane.
According to L.A. Metro, MV Transportation, the company that is contracted to operate the bus line, reported that the bike hit the right side of the bus, between the front and rear doors.
Security cameras from a nearby business, partially catching the incident on digital video, support the theory that the incident was a tragic accident.
The footage, provided by business owner Pierre Hoffman, also catches the immediate aftermath from onlookers. One man is seen walking south along the side of Pacific Coast Highway, looking at the sidewalk as the bus passes, another friend trailing behind him. He then is seen looking up, and with a start, runs in the direction of the intersection.
Hoffman said that the two men were friends leaving his business, and that one grabbed Ciaraβs friend to pull her away from the scene.
Other witnesses say that employees from the nearby Exer Urgent Care rushed to the scene as well to try and provide emergency care.
However, neither they nor paramedics could save Ciara.
Police surveyed the scene, interviewing witnesses and building a privacy screen around Ciaraβs body, covered by a white sheet. A priest was seen passing through the police roadblock, arriving to speak to the family. News trucks from around Los Angeles arrived on the scene, interviewing witnesses and friends as night fell.
By 10:40 p.m., police had cleared the scene. By 11:15 p.m., people were seen leaving candles and flowers at the corner of Knob Hill and Pacific Coast Highway in memory of the young girl whose life was cut short by seemingly random happenstance.
Sorrow from joy
By midday on Saturday, the memorial had bloomed. A sign informing drivers that they were traveling along the Los Angeles Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway had been co-opted, covered with homemade posters, signboards and photos of Ciara.
A bed of flowers, stuffed animals and candles had grown from the signβs base and outward toward the roadway. At its edge, someone had left a box of tissues for mourners.
The sidewalk was packed at 11 a.m. Groups of crying teenagers were embracing each other, mourning their fallen friend. Others were silent, with tears in their eyes. Many were struggling to find a place to set down flowers, or post what theyβd brought, whether it was a picture, a poster, or even a set of sheet music.
The theme was clear: Ciara was loved.
A few hours later, for a 1:30 p.m. vigil, parents Barry and Rose arrived, though Ciaraβs two younger sisters stayed at home. Mourners converged on them immediately.
Rose was sobbing. Barry was stalwart, but clearly taken with all of the support and love shown to him and his family.
Julian Baughman, a friend of the family whose daughter knew Ciara, was there when the Smiths arrived.
βI was with Barryβ¦I held him, and was talking to him for a bit,β Baughman said. β[He] let me know that heβs amazed by the outpouringβ¦as sad as it may seem, they really know now how much love they brought into the world.β
With Barryβs permission, Baughman got the attention of the nearly 60 people who gathered to stand vigil for Ciara.
He told the children there that they would soon βunderstand that the pain and sorrow theyβre feeling now comes from great joy; that they wouldnβt feel this type of emotion if it didnβt come from the great joy that Ciara brought to their lives.β
Baughman, he said, felt that from her. His daughter had met Ciara through RB Rec, an elementary after-school program.
βI feel sorry for the people who never got to know her in her 13 years; from the space of about 8 billion people, I had the opportunity to know her and see her light shine,β Baughman said. βShe was doing what she always did for 13 years, and that was to live her life with great joy.β
When approached, Barry Smith didnβt have much to say. But through sad eyes and a smile, he offered gratitude, a handshake and a hug, to all of those who had shown up to pay tribute to his daughter. The outpouring of support, he said, was tremendous.
A school rocked
Parras Middle School Principal Dr. Lars Nygren had the weight of the world on his shoulders on Monday. Itβs the first time in his career that heβs lost a student, and as he said, thereβs really nothing that can prepare an educator for that loss.
βBut when youβre confronted with it, youβve got to do everything you can to help staff, students and the family involved,β Nygren said. βThese are kids that you see every day andβ¦itβs like losing a family member. When a sudden death happens, it rocks everyone.β
The district has been involved in planning to support its staff and students since they learned of Ciaraβs death on Friday, he said, and Parrasβ Parent-Teacher-Student Association has been instrumental in providing additional support.
Redondo Beach Unified School District counselors have been on hand since Monday, and will be for as long as theyβre needed, to help grieving students and staff, Nygren said. The PTSA, led by president Danni Dean, has been offering its own support, making memorial ribbons made from Ciaraβs favorite colors β teal, mint green, and blue β and buying supplies to take care of the Parras student family.
βItβs heartbreaking to go buy 50 boxes of tissues for grieving middle schoolers,β Dean said. βThese kids are so young, many of them have not experienced any kind of death or accident like thatβ¦the school has done an amazing job of being prepared to deal with this.β
On Sunday, Parras was the site of a hastily-planned memorial service, grown through social media. About 150 people from around the Redondo Beach community had shown up, Nygren said. Police, firefighters, students and family all gathered to memorialize Ciara.
βI remembered seeing her in the hallways, her smiling and saying hiβ¦how she typifies the kind of student that makes our school so special,β Nygren said. βI think it was something that was needed, and a lot of healing took place that morning.β
Remembering Ciara
By Tuesday night, the memorial at PCH and Knob Hill had grown even greater. A ghost bike, a bicycle painted white to stand as a memorial for a fallen cyclist, had been affixed to a nearby fence. There was no longer room for a tissue box to stand ready for mourners, as the sea of flowers and gifts had nearly expanded to the sidewalk. Instead, lighters stood at the ready for those ready to re-light extinguished candles.
After 10 p.m., one woman had shown up to do just that. She didnβt give her name, but she shared her story.
She lives nearby, on the Esplanade in the Avenues. The accident has been in her mind since it happened, she said, and every night sheβs prayed for the Smith family.
She snuck out tonight, she said, after going to the gym, telling her husband that she had one more errand to run before going home. Her plan was to make sure that every candle that could be lit, would be lit.
Sheβs a mother too; her boys are far younger than Ciara, about 2 years old. But her heart was broken for the Smiths.
βI donβt know if I could go on living,β she said, were she in Barry or Roseβs place.
She doesnβt know Ciara or her family.
βBut I might have seen her; I couldβve ridden by her on the Esplanade, or skated by her on the Strand,β she said.
Like the rest of Redondo Beach, sheβs hurting. Like many other mothers, sheβs holding her children just a bit tighter.
As she walks away to return home to her family, she tells me to go home β that itβs too late for someone so young to be out.
βAnd you better call your mother,β she reminds me.
Itβs unclear how long this memorial will stand. Mayor Bill Brand, for one, notes that community members have expressed a desire to place a memorial bench in the area as a permanent memorial.
Personally, heβs struggling to find the right words to say. Brand was personally asked by Ciaraβs father to speak at her memorial on Thursday. This is his first time since his election in March that heβs had to face such a tragedy as the cityβs leader.
βI was elected Mayor for entirely different reasons…itβs humbling to be in this position with a grieving community, and helping people deal with such a tragedy,β Brand said.
He was amazed, he said, by the strength shown by Ciaraβs family, and how they can show gratitude to the City during such a trying time.
βIβm just trying to come up with something,β Brand said. βIt all just seems so trivial. Tragedy like this puts into perspective whatβs really important.β
Itβs a dark situation, Julian Baughman said.
βA light went out before our eyes, but in our heart, she still shines bright,β Baughman said. βAnd that light is eternal.β
A memorial for Ciara Smith will be held at St. Lawrence Martyr Catholic Church, 1940 S. Prospect Ave., on Thursday, May 11, at 1:30 p.m. The family requests that attendees wear bright colors in Ciaraβs memory. ER
