Los Angeles Residents Paint Their Own Crosswalk Where Teen Was Killed in Hit-and-Run
Residents and street-safety advocates took paintbrushes to a Los Angeles intersection Sunday, creating their own crosswalk just five days after a hit-and-run driver killed a 16-year-old boy there and critically injured his younger sister.
About a dozen volunteers gathered at West 60th Street and 10th Avenue in Hyde Park, where Hernan Martinez was struck Sept. 22 while crossing the street with his mother and 13-year-old sister, Vicky. The newly painted crossing included Hernan’s name inside one of its white stripes.
The demonstration was organized by People’s Vision Zero, whose founder, Jonathan Hale, has previously painted unauthorized crosswalks around Los Angeles as a protest over pedestrian safety. Hale told KTLA that Sunday’s paint was meant to push for safer streets and what he described as more effective government.
The paint itself, Hale acknowledged, is not the larger solution. He argued that physical changes such as speed bumps and street designs that make roads appear narrower are what can slow drivers.
Five Days Earlier
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The protest followed the Sept. 22 collision that killed Hernan and left his sister hospitalized.
The Los Angeles Police Department said a blue Nissan Sentra was traveling east on 60th Street at high speed at about 9:30 p.m. when it struck the siblings as they crossed near 10th Avenue. Their mother was walking with them but was not hit, according to accounts of the LAPD’s preliminary investigation.
Surveillance video obtained by local news outlets showed the Nissan approaching the intersection at high speed and appearing to continue through the stop sign before the impact.
The car continued down the street before crashing into a parked vehicle. Police said the female driver and a male passenger then got out of the disabled Sentra and fled on foot.
Hernan died at the scene. Vicky was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Their family later told local reporters that she suffered a fractured pelvis and required surgery.
The Los Angeles Times reported that neighbors rushed to help the siblings after the collision. Police were still looking for the driver and passenger Sunday.
A Familiar Complaint
For people living around the intersection, Sunday’s protest was also about what they described as a problem that existed before Hernan’s death.
Christian Hernandez, a lifelong Hyde Park resident interviewed by KTLA, said drivers have ignored traffic rules in the neighborhood for years. Erica Escobar, who lives across from the crash scene and has children of her own, told the station that conditions on the street leave her worried about what could happen to them.
People’s Vision Zero says nine pedestrians were struck along a three-block stretch of 60th Street between 2015 and 2025, with seven of those incidents classified by the group as felony hit-and-runs. KTLA reported the figures as the group’s analysis; GH did not independently verify that count.
The organization has used unauthorized crosswalk painting elsewhere in Los Angeles to draw attention to similar complaints. Hale was cited by LAPD in December 2025 while volunteers painted crosswalks in Westwood. Reporting by LAist later said the city was not pursuing the misdemeanor vandalism case.
Paint And Pressure
Hale told CBS Los Angeles that Sunday’s crossing was painted after city leaders failed to take immediate action following Hernan’s death.
People’s Vision Zero has argued that its unauthorized crossings are a form of protest rather than a substitute for engineered street improvements. City officials have previously objected to volunteers permanently marking public streets without authorization.
KTLA said it contacted the Los Angeles mayor’s office and City Council president for comment about the newly painted Hyde Park crosswalk but had not received a response by the time of its Sunday broadcast.
Meanwhile, the investigation that brought the volunteers to 60th Street remains open. Nearly a week after Hernan was killed, police were still searching for the driver who left the wrecked Nissan behind and fled the intersection.