UPDATE: Girl struck, killed by car Monday night

Deputies stand at the scene on Orchard Village Road and Wiley Canyon Road on Monday night after a 9-year-old girl was hit by a car. Katharine Lotze/Signal
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A 9-year-old girl was struck and killed by a car Monday evening after she stepped into traffic near the intersection of Orchard Village and Wiley Canyon roads in Newhall, according to an official with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The incident happened shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, said Sgt. Brian Hudson. A patrol deputy, who was first on the scene, was responding to an unrelated call when he heard the sound of the accident near the intersection, Hudson said.

“He saw a young female laying in the middle of the road, 20 feet from the crosswalk,” he said.

Hudson said the girl had just exited a city bus with a parent before she headed into traffic.

The deputy immediately got out of his car to render CPR to the victim. A passerby also assisted.

The victim was eventually transported to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital where she was pronounced dead, Hudson said.

The driver involved in the crash stopped and remained at the scene during the Sheriff’s Station investigation.

“(The driver) is cooperating with the investigation,” Hudson said.

Paramedics responded to the incident at 7:10 p.m. and arrived at the crash four minutes later, Fire Department spokeswoman Vanessa Lozano said.

When they arrived, paramedics found that CPR – cardo pulmonary resuscitation – efforts were already in progress, she said.

The girl, whose identity has not been disclosed, is the 13th pedestrian to be struck and killed by a vehicle in the Santa Clarita Valley in the last two years.

Although the fatality happened near the intersection of Orchard Village Road and Wiley Canyon Road, city officials stressed Tuesday that the incident did not happen at the intersection.

“The accident did not happen at that intersection,” city spokeswoman Gail Morgan said, noting complaints received about the intersection were from people associated with a school at the location.

“The complaints we received about the intersection were from the Albert Einstein (Academy) community and relative to school hours,” she said.

A school receptionist at the Albert Einstein Academy – situated on the northwest corner of the intersection – said the girl killed in the traffic collision was not a student at the school.

Speaking in general terms about the intersection and not about Monday’s fatal accident near it, Paul Cordeiro, superintendent of the Newhall Elementary School District – situated on the southwest corner of the intersection – said he’s expressed his concerns about the intersection to city officials.

“We have seen plenty of collisions at the intersection, on a pretty regular basis,” he said.

Andrew Yee, the city’s traffic engineer, said plans are underway to modify the intersection and construction for those changes is expected to begin in six months.

The modifications are part of a Caltrans-approved plan, he said.

“This is a state grant-funded project,” Yee said.

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