Explosion victims remembered
The Bakersfield Californian | Wednesday, Aug 30 2006 11:42 PM
BY CHRISTINA SOSA, Californian staff writer
e-mail: csosa@bakersfield.com
Andrew Cole Le will never get to ride the blue beach cruiser bicycle his grandmother bought him for his eighth birthday. The bike the little boy had never seen will stay stowed at a family friend’s house for now.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever bought anything ahead of time. Tony (Sendejo) wanted to give it to him early. Maybe he would have been riding it yesterday,” grandmother Darla Lane said Wednesday, collapsing into tears.
Andrew, along with Jeni Marie Klawitter, 7, died in an explosion at an apartment complex on Maple Avenue on Tuesday. Five other children were injured when a military round, thought to be harmless, hit a table and exploded, sending dirt and wood and metal shrapnel flying into the group.
Andrew, along with older brothers Nathaniel Etcheverry, 10, and Terrence Griffin, 12, have lived with Lane for nearly two years.
“He was the sweetest, most loving kid. He would take care of everyone in the family. He was my little helper,” Lane said.
http://www.bakersfield.com/619/story/70848.htmlMan gave military shell to children
Frank Tony Sendejo, a big man using all his resolve to fight back tears, explained Wednesday how a military round he had as a “conversation piece” ended up being a deadly explosive that killed two children.
He described it as a 3-inch long, 2-inch wide, 40 mm round whose firing pin and bottom shell casing had been removed, along with any gun powder that had been in it.
“I thought it was harmless,” he said.
But one of the children at his home took it to an apartment complex at 1913 Maple Ave., just west of H Street in the Oleander neighborhood.
The children, who play with each other every day in the neighborhood, were throwing it up in the air near the building when it landed on a table and exploded, according to Terrence Griffin, 12, the older brother of the boy who was killed at the scene.
http://www.bakersfield.com/619/story/70612.htmlThis is one damn sad story. Send out some good vibes, prayers, hopes, whatever you can to the affected families and friends.