Sacramento police are investigating after an SUV ran into a woman and a child in a parking lot near an elementary school Sunday afternoon, killing the woman and leaving the child injured.
Sacramento County Coroner’s Office on Monday identified the woman as Maria Araceli Pena, 48, of Sacramento.
The collision happened just before 3:15 p.m. Sunday in the lot in the 500 block of Las Palmas Avenue near Las Palmas Elementary School in Sacramento’s Noralto neighborhood.
Officers arrived to find the woman with major injuries and a child whose injuries were minor. Both were taken to the hospital, where the woman died from her injuries, said Sacramento police.
Police found the vehicle and driver at the scene, but offered little more information. Television reports showed an SUV at the scene blocked by yellow crime tape where the vehicle came to rest in the field near the parking lot.
No arrests have been made. Major collision and crime scene investigators took over the investigation. The circumstances leading to the crash remained unknown Monday.
This story was originally published October 26, 2026 at 9:13 AM.
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The Sacramento Bee
Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.