Dozens of people gathered Wednesday to honor the life of Zenia West, who was killed when a driver crashed into a restaurant in Whittier earlier this week.
“She’s a beautiful person, beautiful spirit, beautiful soul,” West’s friend Candice Mondragon said. “She loved the kids. If not nothing, she loved the kids, taking them out, doing things. And just her big personality, that’s what I’m going to miss the most.”
Just a week away from celebrating her 40th birthday, West was fatally struck at the intersection of Slauson Avenue and Norwalk Boulevard around 2:20 p.m. Monday.
Police say a driver lost control of his car and hit West while she was likely waiting to cross the street. Her body was found dozens of feet away.
The driver then crashed into a restaurant. Another pedestrian and the driver were injured.
West was a daughter, sister, friend and mother to one child.
“This is his senior year,” West’s bonus mom Trymise Clark said. “He just got his license. They were just jumping up and happy about that when they came in.”
Her family says they were notified of her death nearly 12 hours after the accident and say they have a lot of questions for police.
“It really hurts as well that we still don’t know the whole story,” said Jazmin Barnett, West’s sister. “Investigators are not getting back to us about anything. We’re still finding out everything really from the news.”
Loved ones say they are devastated to lose her in such a horrific and sudden way and are still trying to process how to move forward.
“Her birthday is on the 14th. She would have been 40. We would’ve been doing a party, celebrating,” Clark said. “Now, we got to celebrate the end of her life. Tell me how fair is that?”
Police say the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
