A pedestrian named Emily was hurrying to a Pilates class in Mission Bay Friday night when she heard screaming at the intersection of 4th and Channel streets.
The neighborhood was packed. Cardi B was performing at the Chase Center, and Emily, who asked The Standard not to divulge her last name, thought the yelling was part of the pregame festivities. But when she looked up from her phone just after 8:30 p.m., she locked eyes with a panicked stranger. They looked down and saw a little girl under the back left wheel of a Honda CR-V.
Emily and another witness, who preferred not to be named, described the scene after a crash that killed the toddler and injured her mother. The 2-year-old died (opens in new tab) at a hospital.
It appeared that the woman and her child were crossing the street when they were hit by a car attempting to make a right turn onto Channel Street. Emily called 911 as bystanders tried to lift the car. The mother, who was also pinned under the vehicle, was wailing her child’s name. People banged their fists on the car’s windows and pleaded for the driver to reverse. Instead, the car went forward, running over the child again, the eyewitnesses said.
“You’re dragging her,” Emily recalled people yelling. “You’re killing her!”
The driver finally reversed, freeing the child and mother, then tried to drive away, Emily said, at which point a bystander broke a rear window. Emily saw the distraught driver hit herself in the head repeatedly. The driver, like many others on the scene, was screaming.
Emily told the 911 dispatcher that the 2-year-old looked lifeless when she was brought to the sidewalk for medical care. But soon she regained consciousness and began to cry, Emily said.
“I’ve never once heard a scream like that in my life,” Emily said of the mother, who sat beside the child. “She had blood coming down from her head, and all she cared about was her daughter.”
City workers repainted crosswalks after the accident at the intersection of 4th and Channel streets. | Source: Photo by Ezra Wallach
Police said the crash occurred around 9 p.m., and drugs and alcohol did not appear to be a factor. The SFPD did not respond to requests for information on the driver or the victims.
The collision occurred at a 50-foot-wide intersection (opens in new tab) that’s notorious for pedestrian safety. Muni’s T line runs along the street, creating another hazard. Nine other traffic crashes at the site have been reported since 2016, according to the advocacy group Walk SF.
In 2023, a 4-year-old in a stroller was struck and killed at the nearby 4th and King intersection.
Emily said she usually avoids the area when walking, because “it has always been chaotic.” She stayed at the scene as neighbors, who had heard the yelling, descended from their apartments, and police blocked off the intersection. She left after police said they had enough eyewitness accounts. Emily remained “extremely depressed” for days. “I could never not remember this,” she said.
WalkSF and San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets held a vigil Monday evening at the intersection. Bouquets had been laid on the sidewalk or taped to a street pole at the corner. Neighbors cried and consoled one another. SFMTA workers repainted the crosswalks as the ceremony went on.
Diamond Muhammad, a mother of two, ages 2 and 3, who lives nearby, came to the vigil to pay her respects. She had heard the commotion Friday night and was “heartbroken.”
Another neighbor, Ana Hernandez, said she is “more mindful when I cross the street anywhere.” She added, “We are all in shock.”