2 Held in Hit-and-Run Slaying of Mother

BURBANK — Two men were arrested Thursday in connection with a hit-and-run accident that killed a mother in front of three of her children and seriously injured a man who tried to help her when her car became stranded by the side of the road.

Sharon McPherson, 43, was standing next to her car with Agustin Luz Trejo, 28, who was helping her fill it with gas at about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday when a brown Chevrolet Camaro speeding south on Glenoaks Boulevard hit both of them.

Luz was knocked to the ground and McPherson was thrown three car lengths against a parked car, said Burbank Police Sgt. Ron Caruso. Three of McPherson’s children, ages 9, 12 and 17, were sitting in the car when she was hit.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday, police found three men trying to fix the tire of a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle on the top level of the parking garage at the Media City Center mall in downtown Burbank.

Police said evidence of the accident was found on the car. The three men were detained for questioning, and two were later booked. Burbank Police Lt. Larry Koch identified the suspects as Rafael Miranda-Claro, 36, of Glendale and Nicholas Alas, 27, of Burbank.

Miranda-Claro was being held at the Burbank City Jail on $250,000 bail on suspicion of felony hit and run. Alas was being held on $17,500 bail on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact, and on $60,000 worth of unrelated warrants.

A third suspect was questioned and released.

After the collision, McPherson was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, where she died of internal injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Two other children--ages 4 and 12--were at her Burbank home at the time of the accident.

Luz was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Caruso said.

He is listed in serious but stable condition, said hospital spokeswoman Adelaida de la Cerda. Family members said he has a fractured hip, leg and possible back injury.

Police said McPherson had taken her children to the Burbank High School track to exercise, but when she got back into her car, she couldn’t get it started.

Luz, a house painter and father of two small girls who lives nearby, came out to help McPherson after she knocked on his door and asked for gasoline.

Police said he drove her to a nearby gas station to buy fuel and drove her back to her car, where the children were waiting--taking care to park his car behind hers with the hazard lights on.

“People ask me why he went out to help,” said Luz’s sister-in-law, Araceli Vargas, speaking Spanish.

“How can they ask me why? She had three kids in the car. . . . He did it out of humanity. I think he thought if someday it was his wife with a broken car, someone should help her.”

Vargas said the impact of the collision was loud enough that Luz’s wife could hear it from inside their home.

Police said McPherson is believed to have lived in Burbank with five of her children for only a short time. After taking her children into protective custody, police arranged for them to be flown to Cincinnati on American Airlines. Officers were attempting to put together a fund to pay for the children’s return to Ohio, but the airline waived their fares. “We were struck by the magnitude of this tragedy,” said airline spokesman Tim Smith.

Smith said an airline escort was assigned to meet the children--three girls and two boys--at Los Angeles International Airport, where they arrived with numerous bags and the family dog.

Airline escorts said that all five seemed calm and self-possessed, despite the tragedy. They were met in Cincinnati by an older sibling, Smith said.