Toddler dies in wash: Girl swept away while her family is rescued

Los Angeles Daily News ^ | January 10, 2005 | Charles F. Bostwick

[CindyDawg]

We don't know but it wouldn't surprise me that if the adults were screaming, that the baby was hysterical and fighting.

[BenLurkin]

"Two vehicles remain submerged in flood waters at Avenue N and 70th Street East in Palmdale on Monday. The location is near where a 2-year-old girl fell from her mother's arms Sunday night and was swept to her death during a rescue operation." EVELYN KRISTO/Valley Press

[CindyDawg]

So close to shore but so far. Did the waters suddenly rise or were they carried into this?

[BenLurkin]

Raging torrent claims toddler
Don't cross barricades, officials warn
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, January 11, 2005.
By JAMES C. LOUGHRIE and CHRIS AMICO
Valley Press Staff Writers

---

PALMDALE - A 2-year-old girl slipped from her mother's hands during a Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter crew's attempt to rescue the pair from the rushing waters that trapped them.
The mother, fire officials said, ignored a marked barricade, plunging her vehicle into the rushing water.

A few hours later, Jamaia Davis died at Antelope Valley Hospital.

The Palmdale girl and her mother had been in a car near the intersection of Avenue N and 65th Street East. The rapids caused the car to drift late Sunday night.

Avenue N was not the only road closed, and Sunday's night rescue was one among dozens, but emergency officials warned motorists they were risking death by attempting to brave rushing water blocked by barricades.

After the little girl fell, rescue crews began a search and found her 2 miles downstream in the swirling torrent near Avenue L.

She was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital where she died at 1:45 a.m., according to Los Angeles County Coroner spokesman David Campbell.

The cause of death remained under investigation late Monday.

The mother's vehicle, containing the girl and two other passengers, was attempting to cross a closed road when the car sank in the water and submerged quickly, L.A. County Fire Inspector Mike McCormick said.

"The water kept rising up which caused the occupants to get out of the car and on top of the roof," McCormick said.

Few details were available from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including which agency would investigate the toddler's death. According to a list of road closures from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Avenue N between 50th and 70th streets east was closed at 10 p.m. Saturday, 24 hours before the car bcame stranded.

Because the road was closed, the girl's mother could face an arrest for investigation of negligence. Her name was not immediately released.

Fire Inspector McCormick said one rescue helicopter was serving the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita areas.

"That particular helicopter did 30 to 35 pick-offs," McCormick said, referring to aerial rescues of stranded people.

On Monday afternoon, McCormick said he completed another "pick-off" at the same location where the toddler fell from her mother's grasp.

"It could have easily been the same situation," he said.

Swift water rescue teams from the county Fire Department pulled four people from Littlerock Creek near Avenue N and 60th Street East.

A Chevrolet Blazer went into the upstream side of Littlerock Creek just before 2 p.m., said Capt. Wade Little of Fire Station 135.

Air Squad 16 performed a helicopter rescue of one victim, while a rescue team was able to walk the other three out from the vehicle by land.

The driver was a 58-year-old male. The passengers were three females, ages 10, 37 and 82.

No one was injured, although all four were taken to Antelope Valley Hospital and checked for hypothermia.

"The rescue operation went as good as possible," Little said.

A small van driven by a male in his 40s was pulled from the same location between 5:30 and 6 a.m., Wade said.

The van stalled trying to cross the point where the creek continues to flow over the roadway. Fortunately, the van stayed on the road.

During much of the flooding, water has been up to 2 feet deep and moving at 20 mph. The downstream side has created a sinkhole and an undertow that can swallow a car.

"If it would have gone off of the road, it would have been covered up to the top of the car," Little said. "When people fall off that way, they're in grave danger."

Little admonished drivers to heed roadblocks and warnings.

"Water's still flowing very deep and the road's being eroded away. I have a feeling with this one, the guy thought he was on the road," he said of the incident with the Blazer.

"These blockades are not stopping everybody. Apparently people's inconvenience is becoming more important than logic, safety."

The Blazer driver came from the direction of 90th Street East, meaning he needed to bypass two barriers to reach the point where the SUV was swept off the road.

"Do not go through these blockades. It's not worth it," Little warned, frustration in his voice.

"If you've got road closures, please do not go by the barriers. Abide by the law, it could save your life.

"We don't know what the condition of the road is, because it's been covered with water for the past two days."

Drivers could face penalties for ignoring the marked road barriers.

Sheriff's deputies "are coming to all these rescues and will be dealing with all these people who are putting themselves and firefighters at risk by running these barricades," Little said. "It bogs down a lot of resources."

L.A. County sheriff's Sgt. Vincent Burton of the Palmdale station said deputies are writing tickets for drivers they see blowing past barricades.

With the flooding causing normally dry roads and fields to become rivers and lakes, natural containers of water continue to overflow.

Littlerock Dam holds 3,500 acre feet, or 1.14 billion gallons of water, when full.

The dam has been overflowing since at least Dec. 29, when county workers closed Mount Emma Road because of water rushing over the spillway.

The escaping water has varied in depth, from less than an inch to more than a foot, depending on rainfall, said John Pernula, facilities and operations manager for the Palmdale Water District.

"It increases during peak storm activity and falls again," Pernula said.

Monday afternoon, as rain from the latest storm fell across an already soaked Antelope Valley, about 2 feet of water was escaping from the dam.

That is equal to about 4,700 cubic feet, or 35,156 gallons, a second.

"For the past 24 hours or so, it's really been roaring," Pernula said.

The water that escapes the dam flows north along the Littlerock Wash, making its way to the normally dry lakes in southeast Kern County, he said.

The roads flooded so badly that Lake Los Angeles residents were left without a route to Palmdale or Lancaster. Marie Squires, who has lived in Lake L.A. since 1987, said it was the worst she'd ever seen it.

"We've never seen all the roads closed," she said. "I don't know of any way we can get out of here, period."

A multitude of Lake L.A. residents had no way to get to work or meet other obligations outside the town.

While the east side faced floods and closed roads, the west side weathered problems of its own. Portions of Quartz Hill remained closed from the flooded streets and mud slides along the hillsides.

Scores of residents in Acton and Agua Dulce were stranded in their homes when swift-moving streams and the swelling Santa Clara River wiped out access roads.

On Briggs Road in Agua Dulce, about 15 families have been stranded nearly two weeks after the Santa Clara River washed out the road that connects the homes to Soledad Canyon Road.

Resident Steve Townsend said the road washed away Dec. 29, and only a handful of residents with four-wheel drive vehicles have been able to reach the outside world.

"They go back country and end up on Agua Dulce Canyon Road," Townsend said. "But I've lived up here 17 years, and I don't even try it.

"There's no way to get us out. If someone has a heart attack, they're dead."

Townsend said the stranded families are helping each other out with supplies, and are hoping the waters recede soon.

Norm Hickling, Antelope Valley field representative for Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, is aware of the situation and warned residents from trying to cross the waters to reach Briggs Road.

"It's very dangerous at this point for anyone to try to make a crossing," said Hickling, who surveyed the scene Monday. "It's very deep, very fast. There's lots of debris in the water, and a large volume of water in that area. Take the message from the L.A. County Fire Department and stay away from the water."

"We've had the Fire Department out there … and the supervisor is very conscious of the needs out there," Hickling said.

Also in Acton, a section of the Thousand Trails campground was inaccessible because of a stream flowing over Arrastre Canyon Road .

John Mullins, who spends winters at the campground, said he was stranded away from his motor home because of the road closure.

"All of the upper community of Arrastre Road is stranded. The road is not passable," said Mullins, who estimated that 100 people may have been stranded in - or out of - their homes.

"The county has done their best, but there's just too much water," Mullins said of the Los Angeles County efforts to recover the road.

Campground manager John Vogelsang said most of the campground is accessible, and in the isolated section, residents were remaining upbeat.

"The people that stay here have been through this many times before, and people are in pretty good spirits," Vogelsang said. "There's just one section where the county road caved in … and we just have to wait until the road is passable."

Several other Acton roads were shut, including portions of Country Way and Aliso Canyon Road.

Schools across the Antelope Valley told students and teachers to stay home. Only Muroc Joint Unified opened its doors today, but even that district sent students home at 12:30 p.m.

In Quartz Hill, Town Council President Ed Frommer canceled a press conference about the flooding, due to flooding.

He said residents were worried about damage from run-off.

"Unfortunately, we're getting really hit, really really hard," he said. "I think this storm is going to be costing people a lot of money due to repairs."

Frommer blamed developments for the flooding, which turned streets into rivers and parking lots into lakes. He said sandbags were everywhere.

The Town Council will discuss flooding at its Jan. 18 meeting when Antonovich will release a report on flooding in the Valley.

Valley Press staff writers Lisa Wahla Howard and Bob Wilson contributed to this story.

[ApplegateRanch]

Personal remorse, and punishment for criminal behavior are two separate issues, and one is no substitute for the other.

Many, many people feel life long remorse about causing the death of another, or the loss of their possessions, but that does not get them off the hook for manslaughter, negligent homicide, burning a neighbor's home down when their illegal &/or unattended burn-barrel gets out of hand, or a host of other criminal acts.

Would you feel the same if it happened to be someone else's child that happened to be in her car, say one she was babysitting, that died, rather than her own?

Stupid is stupid, negligent is negligent, and illegal is illegal...but THIS was all three.

[Farnham]

"The mother didn't think. No matter her race, kids name or what if she loved her baby she probably wishes she was dead too. I say leave her alone. She will live the rest of her life with this. That's punishment enough."

No. If we leave her alone, she will be filing suit against the state because the barriers weren't big enough or some such malarkey.

For these types, it's always someone else's fault. They can't see that their own lack of common sense is the reason bad things happen to them.

My wife left corporate America to work for a charity - at ground level. I help her often. The sad truth is that 95% of "society's victims" are victims of bad decision making - over and over and over....and they all think it's somebody else's doing.

[CindyDawg]

LE will do what they have to do. I have no desire to scream for her head though. How come none of yall have answered my question regarding if you have ever done anything stupid in your life that could have resulted in injury or death though? No speeding? Never looked and decided to cross that rr? Never passed a car when you really should have waited? Cooked a turkey in the garage:')? I lurk on a lot of threads and I read what some of you beat your chest about doing:')I wouldn't have went around this barricade but people just don't think sometimes. I just happen to see things different from yall but that's no crime.

[lainie]

You're not alone.

[CindyDawg]

Well why didn't you say so before:'). Throw away the key so she can't sue someone. (I think she can still do that from jail can't she?)

[thathamiltonwoman]

Jamaia Davis' mother had driven around barricades

Why do people do this?

[ApplegateRanch]

Okay; fair enough; I'll answer your question.

TWICE.

Once, I strapped a pair of skies to my feet and slid down a hill.

Another time, I put on ice skates, and slipped & slid around a rink.

Both times, I was lucky I didn't break my neck, or someone else's.

It taught me to either walk or drive, like God intended, rather than indulge in stupid, dangerous behavior.

The truth is EVERYONE does something dangerous &/or stupid at least once in their life, but most realize that there might be a legal penalty attached. It does not absolve another of responsibility when it does go wrong.

Besides which, the "it's punishemnt enough" theory does nothing to perhaps teach and deter others. Look how many more, in the article above, had done the same thing the very next day, at the very same location, though no one was killed in any of those incidents.

[CindyDawg]

Yeah, I hear what you are saying, but of course there is always a but...:') To me this lady going around and giving a testimony to others about this driving risk much more productive than putting a grieving mother in jail. Neither of us know this mother's heart though and I acknowledge that you could be right but I choose to think the best of people until they prove to be otherwise. Right now I give her the benefit of the doubt of being a loving mother who made a horrible mistake. The old half full cup, you know Sigh. I think I'm going to ease on out of here awhile. Too sad. Besides the NES thread back and I'm being pinged :')

[PleaseNoMore]

I agree. God forbid that any of us ever make a decision without thinking clearly and someone we love suffer for it. We ain't all Solomons.

[PleaseNoMore]

There is no excuse for stupid mistakes.

So, you never made any stupid mistakes in your life? Not one?

[BobS]

A lot of people around here don't know much about the CA high desert. It can flood, like now. It can get well below freezing in the winter with snow and ice on the 5, 14, 58 and 15 to Vegas. There is no heat retention at all. When you fly down those highways at 85 mph, never, Ever turn the windshield washer on.

[lainie]

FYI

From a local Antelope Valley message board, posted at 7:08 p.m. tonight. We have been discussing this at length for days. Another member has a family member involved with the search & rescue and that's where I got the previous information that "the media is blaming the mother unfairly" that I posted earlier.

I saw some posts on this subject and I have more information.
I am going to be making a keepsake quilt for this woman. A friend
of hers commisioned me to do this and she told me the whole story.
[Name withheld] is correct that the road was not barracated
at that time. The woman had gone that same way 2 hours before with
out incident because her 2 year old had asthma and she took her
to the hospital. On the way back it was the only road not barracated.
She saw a little water but didn't realize that it was a deap dip.
So she went and her car stalled immediatly and she couldn't back up.
That was at 9 oclock and she called the search and rescue right
then and there. Then she called her husband and family members. At
that time the water was only to her ankles. The search and rescue
operator told her to stay there and someone would come soon. 
Well she kept calling and they kept putting her on hold so she finally
had someone who was on a land line call. While this is happening the water
was rising and her family got there. Her husband even tried to get
to them but couldn't. Finally there was so much water that they broke
a window and climbed on top of the car. At 9:45 search and rescue
got there! They told her that they had to take the big people first
even though she asked them to take the baby first.  When the helicopter
came down to get her 16 year old daughter the wind knocked her, the baby,
and her 10 year old into the water. She was able to get ahold of the
baby but she was pushed under water while holding the baby up. She said
it felt like someone was trying to pull her and she thought it was
search and rescue because she was under water and could see. She let
her go thinking she was getting pulled out of the water. Moments later
they pulled her and the 10 year old out of the water and once they
where in the helicopter she asked for the baby and the people replied
"What baby?"  The pulling she had felt was the force of the water.
That is why it took so long to find the childs body. Her husband tried
to dive in after her but was held back for his own saftey.

So basically it wasn't her fault and she is a nervous, emotional wreck
right now. She has been washing her daughters clothes and laying them
out as if she were still here. Please keep her in your thoughts and
prayers. I know I am. Her daughter was a month older then [name
withheld] and I can't help but cling a little closer to my daughter.
If there is anything you would like to give to her our write something
let me know so I can tell her friend. This way she can pass it on for you.

[visualops]

According to a list of road closures from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Avenue N between 50th and 70th streets east was closed at 10 p.m. Saturday, 24 hours before the car bcame stranded.

[Valpal1]

Few details were available from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including which agency would investigate the toddler's death. According to a list of road closures from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Avenue N between 50th and 70th streets east was closed at 10 p.m. Saturday, 24 hours before the car bcame stranded

Officials say differently, but that doesn't mean that the barricades were actually in place, or that some dipsh*t didn't move them or put them in the wrong spot or list the street as closed when it wasn't.

[lainie]

Yeah, I've read all the same reports. First of all believe me when I say don't trust the liberal AV Press. Second, just because the CALTRANS logs indicate the road was closed, doesn't mean barricades were up. I'd like to see the log of which officer(s) put out more than a "flooded" sign, and when.

Maybe the piece I just submitted to you all isn't factual; I wasn't there. Just submitting for your consideration.

I can tell you this. Watching KTTV on Monday morning, their reporter was standing on a bridge over a wash, 3 miles north of this accident, telling everyone that's where it happened. He even commented how the car banged the sides of the wash and the bridge itself. I thought at the time, why in the hell is he lying about this? Now I wonder how many other "facts" the media has bungled.

[Brad’s Gramma]

lainie, I heard something similar to this on the news this morning. For the life of me I can't remember which station. The way it sounded, this lady did NOT do as so many of you think she did...

Please, for those of you who don't know the area, stop with your knee jerk reactions. There's been SO MANY mean things said these past few days on so many threads.

I wouldn't want ANY of you or your family or your state to have to suffer.