{"id":202024,"date":"2026-03-03T10:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202024\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T10:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:15:13","slug":"driver-in-long-beach-crash-that-killed-2-year-old-girl-severely-injured-2-others-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202024\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver in Long Beach crash that killed 2-year-old girl, severely injured 2 others arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"

A driver involved in a tragic crash that killed a 2-year-old girl and seriously injured two others Monday in Long Beach has been arrested, KTLA has confirmed.<\/p>\n

Officials with the Long Beach Police Department said\u00a0the fatal March 2 accident<\/a> occurred\u00a0just before\u00a011:30 a.m.\u00a0at\u00a0440 Maine Avenue when the driver, now identified as Lamont Russell, 55, reversed over a curb\u00a0and struck the toddler, her mother\u00a0and her young cousin,\u00a0all of whom were sitting on the front steps of the apartment building.<\/p>\n

Police said the\u00a02-year-old\u00a0was so\u00a0critically\u00a0injured that two officers\u00a0rushed her to the hospital in a patrol\u00a0vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe child was taken by a black and white with two officers, one driving and one providing life-saving care on the way to a local hospital,\u201d LBPD Lt. Hotchkiss said.<\/p>\n

Officials said\u00a0the toddler,\u00a0identified\u00a0only as\u00a0Myra\u00a0by family members, was pronounced dead\u00a0a short time\u00a0later.<\/p>\n

Myra\u2019s mother, according to family, suffered several broken ribs, while her cousin suffered a broken leg. Both were rushed to the hospital by medical personnel with the Long Beach Fire Department where they were\u00a0listed in stable condition.<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Beach authorities are investigating after three people, including a young child, were hit by a car on Monday, March 2, 2026. (OnScene.TV)<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Beach authorities are investigating after three people, including a young child, were hit by a car on Monday, March 2, 2026. (OnScene.TV)<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Beach authorities are investigating after three people, including a young child, were hit by a car on Monday, March 2, 2026. (OnScene.TV)<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Beach authorities are investigating after three people, including a young child, were hit by a car on Monday, March 2, 2026. (OnScene.TV)<\/p>\n

Hotchkiss said the 55-year-old driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with the investigators. It is unknown whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard a blood curdling scream. It sounded like someone was severely hurt or injured,\u201d a woman who lives\u00a0nearby\u00a0told KTLA\u2019s Mary Beth\u00a0McDade. \u201cThere was the white car backed all the way up onto someone\u2019s porch\u00a0that they were hanging out on.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the white SUV had pinned one of the victims against the wall and another of the victims lying on the ground on the other side of the vehicle with\u00a0a large\u00a0gash on their shin.<\/p>\n

Pasadena police gunfight leaves one dead, 2 injured including officer <\/a><\/p>\n

Community members have started a memorial near the apartment steps, leaving candles and flowers near the steps where Myra was killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo hear that this tragedy happened today, it\u2019s just awful,\u201d neighbor Maria Barrientos told KTLA. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0absolutely awful\u00a0to hear that this little girl, 2 years old\u00a0\u2013 that fatality is something that family, and, quite honestly, the community is dealing with right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the investigation remains ongoing, jail records show\u00a0Russell was arrested not long after the crash and booked on a felony charge.<\/p>\n

He is being held on $300,000 bail.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A driver involved in a tragic crash that killed a 2-year-old girl and seriously injured two others Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[4407,131,133,132,867,93745,5700],"class_list":["post-202024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-ktla","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-long-beach-police-department","tag-tragic-crash","tag-young-child"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}