Girl, 11, killed in crash outside Glendale middle school
Meri Nalbandian was hit in crosswalk in front of Eleanor J. Toll Middle School. Glendale police say a driver dropping off her child failed to yield.
Tearful students at a Glendale middle school got hugs from their principal today as school officials and parents tried to make sense of an accident that killed a sixth grader in the crosswalk in front of the school.
A large pink poster was hanging in the foyer of Eleanor J. Toll Middle School for friends to scribble notes to 11-year-old Meri Nalbandian, who was killed Wednesday after her mother dropped her off at a well-marked crosswalk in front of the campus.
"Dear Meri, you are and always will be my best friend," one girl wrote in marker. "We [heart] u so much. I hope you are watching us in heaven!"
Crosswalk: An article in Friday's California section about 11-year-old Meri Nalbandyan, who was struck by a car and killed in a Glendale school crosswalk, said her father, Grigor, "returned repeatedly to the crosswalk where the eldest of the family's two daughters lighted candles and lay flowers." In fact, he returned repeatedly to the crosswalk where the eldest of his two daughters died to light candles and lay flowers in her memory.
The first poster was already so full by mid-morning that another blank board had to be added.
"It was so devastating to me," said Paula Nelson, the school's principal. "She was a wonderful bright spot."
After Meri was hit about 8 a.m. by a sports utility vehicle, she was taken to Glendale Adventist Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The Glendale Police Department, which is investigating the incident, said the driver of the SUV also was dropping off her child at school. She was apparently "distracted and did not see the victim and failed to yield," Sgt. Tom Lorenz said in a statement.
Wagner and Chong are Times staff writers.
james.wagner@latimes.com
jia-rui.chong@latimes.com
