Police are still investigating the crash but said the driver who struck Jeremiah doesn\u2019t appear to have been speeding, distracted or impaired.<\/p>\n
The speed limit on that stretch of Paramount, between Davenport Park and the large Seaport Village Apartments complex where Jeremiah lived, is 40 mph.<\/p>\n
Monique Boochie, Jeremiah\u2019s mom, says the city of Long Beach should have done more to slow drivers down. She\u2019s pressing local officials to act before anyone else is killed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not just going to lie down; he deserves justice,\u201d Boochie said.<\/p>\n
At minimum, she said, there should be a sign warning drivers that children could be playing nearby. She would like to see speed bumps along with a sign showing drivers how fast they\u2019re traveling.<\/p>\n
In recent years, Long Beach has been trying in vain to reduce traffic deaths. Last year saw the city reach its highest tally in more than a decade.<\/a> So far this year, 24 people have been killed, nine more than at this point last year, according to data tracked by the Long Beach Post.<\/p>\n Two years ago, a 4-year-old girl was killed at nearly the same spot<\/a> as Jeremiah.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would think, even then, that something would have happened,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n The city has acted in other areas, reducing speeds on nearly 200 streets throughout Long Beach and spending millions to revamp bike lanes and safety features on major arteries like nearby Artesia Boulevard<\/a>. But the City Council has acknowledged that many safety features are too slow to arrive<\/a>.<\/p>\n The city has plans to add a new traffic signal at Paramount and South Street just north of where Jeremiah was killed. It will have upgraded controllers to help manage speed, said city spokesperson Jocelin Padilla. But it\u2019s not expected to arrive until the summer.<\/p>\n Padilla said the city prioritizes new safety measures based on which streets have the most crashes with injuries, and Paramount Boulevard is not one of those streets.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to be angry,\u201d said Isaac Martinez with Car-Lite Long Beach, who organized a bike ride<\/a> on Wednesday honoring Jeremiah and others killed in traffic.<\/p>\n Roberts, Jeremiah\u2019s cousin, described Paramount Boulevard as \u201copen season\u201d on pedestrians. She said Jeremiah knew how to safely cross the street and wouldn\u2019t have run into the road if he had seen the car.<\/p>\n His death has been especially hard on his 7-year-old niece, according to the family.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were like Thing 1 and Thing 2,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n Jeremiah was the \u201ctough, sticky glue,\u201d Roberts said, that bound them all together.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is absolutely heartbreaking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n You can donate to Jeremiah\u2019s family here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779412514_96_img-9817-795382-wsshn6db-611254-mpFpqCwz-1018x1024.jpg\")
Jeremiah Hicks, right, posing with his niece. Courtesy of Jessica Roberts.<\/p>\n