Update on Cadillac day care center rampage in CA:39 y.o.man admits he "wanted to kill innocent children",deliberately drove into crowded playground,killed 2 toddlers,critically injured 2 others
Joe1orbit
A newspaper based in the city of Costa Mesa, California is providing very
good coverage of the Cadillac toddler killer, 39 year old Steven Abrams, and
gives us an idea of just how much of an effect Steven's decision to plow his
Cadillac into a crowd of children at a preschool playground two days ago, has
had on the local community. So I am pleased to present four new articles, from
the Costa Mesa Daily Pilot newspaper.
We do get some new info on Steven's mindset, and the relationship that he had
with a former neighbor, aged 26, who broke up with him about five long years
ago. Steven does seem to have had an obsession/stalking type of interest in
this gal over the past 5 years, but he was never VIOLENT towards her, judging
from these articles. He verbally threatened to kill Jennifer, her husband, and
her brother, and repeatedly violated restraining orders designed to keep his
away from Jennifer, but he never actually tried to physically attack any of
them.
As to the victims, two toddlers are dead and 2 others are still hospitalized
in critical/serious condition, but it doesn't sound as though they are likely
to die. Arraignment was due to take place today for Steven, so hopefully we
will get a photo or two of him, being led into or out of the courtroom.
Another interesting detail is that when Steven lived in this neighborhood, he
OFTEN walked right by this preschool/day care center, and no doubt SAW the
children outside, laughing, playing around, being INNOCENT, something he,
abused and traumatized as a child, could never be. I BET that he felt SOME
desire to HURT these children, YEARS ago, during his neighborhood walks. But he
chose to not act upon those urges, until two days ago.
Steven has a 20 year old daughter, and in 1994 he was charged with child
abuse, most likely in connection with his treatment of this daughter, who was
then aged 14 or 15.
You can view a photo of a flower and letter of sympathy left at the murder
scene, at the following URL:
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/COMMUN/PAPERS/PILOT/PHOTO/dp_daily.htm
Wjat I find ALMOST as interesting as the new personal details about Steven,
are the final three articles below, which demonstrate what a POROFOUND impact
Steven's rampage has had on the ENTIRE local community. One person truly CAN
"rock the world", with a SINGLE act of homicidal rage. Or, in a case like this,
he can at least have a profound influence upon the local population. The
pathetic manner in which the community turns to the insane god myth, chooses to
demonize Steven and label him as "evil", simply demonstrates the FEAR and
TERROR and inability to accept truth, that these people, that virtually all
people, operate under when faced with the simple truth that NO human being is
ever safe from the LEGIONS of justifiably enraged societal victims who SILENTLY
stalk your world, observing, planning, waiting, and eventually, at least
sometimes, ACTING upon their True Reality realization that they are entitled to
claim violent and homicidal retribution against ANY living thing, in the
society that is responsible for and guilty of having CREATED them, robbed them
of their innocence, destroyed their soul.
Take care, JOE
The following five news articles all appear courtesy of the 5/5/99 online
edition of The Costa Mesa Daily Pilot newspaper:
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
Driver wanted to kill the 'innocent'
Police say Abrams 'took out his frustration' on kids, five years after
failed relationship with a woman.
By JESSICA GARRISON AND GREG RISLING
COSTA MESA -- Steven Abrams, the vengeful driver who killed two school
children and injured several more on a bustling playground Monday, apparently
targeted the kids because he was upset over a soured relationship with a woman
five years ago.
Abrams, 39, was reportedly smitten with a former neighbor, 26-year-old
Jennifer Brazen, when they lived in the same East Side community where the
tragedy occurred. During a two-hour interview with police hours after he plowed
into the Magnolia Street sand lot where kids were playing, Abrams told police
he wanted to "execute the children because they were innocent." "Somehow he
associated her [Brazen] with the school," said Costa Mesa Lt. Ron Smith. "He
took out his frustration over the relationship on the kids." Left in Abrams'
deadly path were two dead children, 4-year-old Sierra Soto and 3-year-old
Brandon Wiener, four hurt youngsters and an injured 24-year-old teacher.
Abrams faces two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He is
being held in Costa Mesa Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. He is set to be
arraigned in Harbor Justice Center today.
Police have begun piecing together the suspect's past history, determining
how it may have contributed to Monday's violent turn of events.
Court documents show that Abrams stalked Brazer between September 1993 and
May 1994 when both were living in an 18th Street apartment complex, only a few
blocks from the Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center where the suspect
smashed his 1967 Cadillac onto a playground.
Police wouldn't confirm whether the two were romantically involved, but
court records indicate they were amicable at one point. However, a small claims
suit filed by Abrams in October 1993, in which he alleges he loaned Brazer
$194, may have been the start of the tumultuous relationship. The suit was
dismissed six months later, but it did not end their relationship.
Brazer said the suspect was making harassing phone calls to her several
times a week in early 1994. She claims Abrams threatened to kill her husband
and her brother with a 9mm gun, court records show.
Abrams also violated a restraining order three times in a three-week
period, which caught the attention of Costa Mesa police. Court documents said
Abrams kept a copy of the restraining order with him, but had "no respect for
the court system." Brazer, who works at a Costa Mesa architectural firm,
declined to talk to the Pilot on Tuesday.
Abrams was sentenced to three years' probation for the misdemeanor counts
but failed to report to his probation officer in the following months.
Authorities added the suspect routinely walked by the preschool when he
lived in the neighborhood.
Abrams has a 20-year-old daughter of his own who worked with him at a
Costa Mesa ticket agency. He was charged with child abuse in January 1994 and
ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation.
Still, what puzzles parents and authorities is why Abrams would go on a
vehicular rampage. A little more than an hour before he crashed his car onto
the playground, Abrams finished another unremarkable day at work and called out
to his boss: "Ken, I'll see you tomorrow." Then he reportedly left with his
daughter and headed toward the Costa Mesa Freeway. Driving northbound in the
freeway's carpool lane about 4:35 p.m., Abrams rammed his Cadillac into the
back of the vehicle in front of him. The victim's car was propelled forward 100
feet and Abrams sped off, exiting at Edinger Avenue.
Shortly after 5 p.m., Abrams cruised past his former neighborhood, made a
U-turn and drove his car into the group of children, police said.
Ken Oberlin, the owner of Ticket Shack and Abrams' brother-in-law, said he
has worked beside Abrams for 15 years, and spent more than a few Christmases
and holidays with him as well.
"I don't understand what happened ... I don't," said Oberlin, who sounded
near tears. "I just can't believe that boy did that." Oberlin said Abrams grew
up in a "close-knit" family in Tustin. He said he did not know his
brother-in-law well, despite working with him for 15 years. Oberlin said it's
his policy to keep business and personal life separate.
But he said he knew Abrams to be "a real nice gentleman" who never showed
up late for work and who "gave up his life" to raise his daughter. He gave "not
a sign" that he would do what authorities claim.
On the charge that his brother-in-law had been convicted of stalking
Brazer five years ago, Oberlin said he had never heard of it. "It don't even
sound like him," he said.
Oberlin went to the Costa Mesa Jail Monday night, but did not see Abrams.
Oberlin said he has not heard from him.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
A shining star blacked out
Friends recall 4-year-old Sierra Soto as a bright girl who was loved by all.
By JESSICA GARRISON AND GREG RISLING
COSTA MESA -- Her dance solo this year was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
Anguished friends Tuesday said it pretty much summed up 4-year-old Sierra Soto,
who died Monday when a car slammed into the playground at her day-care center.
Sierra's mother, Cindy Soto, runs a Newport Beach dance studio, and also
teaches dance classes at Newport Harbor High School. Sierra often tagged along
and when she didn't play quietly, she joined in the dancing.
Dance instructor Dorothy Jo Swanson said Sierra, an only child, was
following in her mother's footsteps at a rapid pace. She quickly picked up tap,
ballet and interpretive dance and recently won first place at a contest in Palm
Desert.
"I've never seen as much talent in a child as this one," said the
83-year-old Swanson. "She was loved by every child. A very brilliant girl."
Friends echoed that sentiment about Sierra and said Cindy was a single mother
whose daughter was her whole life.
"Sierra was little, but she was a wonderful dancer," said Charity Van
Horn, a freshman at Newport Harbor High School who knew Sierra for most of her
young life.
Charity spent much of Tuesday afternoon on her knees weeping and praying
in front of the day-care center where Steven Allen Abrams plowed his car into a
crowd of children.
With her were other girls from Soto's dance class at Newport Harbor High
School, along with many of their parents.
"She was always happy," Debbie Jendrusina, whose daughter took dance
classes from Sierra's mom, said of the little girl. Jendrusina wiped away tears
and clutched her daughter close.
"She was gorgeous and talented and she liked to play tag and
hide-and-go-seek," said Charity.
An annual dance event benefiting abused children is scheduled for Saturday
at Newport Harbor High. The event will now be in honor of Sierra.
Swanson said the old entertainment adage "the show must go on" applies to
the fund-raiser.
Efforts to reach the family or friends of the other victim of the tragedy,
3-year-old Brandon Weiner, were unsuccessful.
The tragedy at the school has created a tight bond between families, but
also has created a wave of emotions.
Andrew Wright rushed to the scene Monday afternoon and was informed his
4-year-old son Ian was one of the victims. He went to the hospital where he saw
Brandon Wiener, before he died, being worked on by paramedics. He feared the
worst for his son.
Ian suffered only minor injuries and was released Monday night. The next
day, the Wrights came to the site where his son escaped major injury, or
possibly, death. The fence demolished by the oncoming car was replaced with
flower bouquets and cards.
"The car was going really fast," said Ian, who appeared to be unfazed the
day after. "I was playing with some friends when the car went through the
fence." Andrew Wright said his son was playing with his younger sister behind
the tree that stopped Abrams' car. Wright believes Abrams should get the death
penalty for his actions.
"An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth," he said. "I'm upset and pissed
off.
How this guy took it out on little children is beyond me."
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
Tragedy strikes at many parents' fears
As many as 1,600 children are in day-care centers in Costa Mesa, and
workers worry that the unimaginable could happen again.
By JESSICA GARRISON
NEWPORT-MESA -- Steven Allen Abrams did more than kill two innocent
children when he crashed into a playground full of laughing tots Monday
afternoon.
He also shattered the community's peace of mind. And though this loss
cannot be compared with the unbearable loss of a child, parents and day-care
workers across Newport Beach and Costa Mesa said it will nevertheless have a
profound effect on their lives.
As many as 1,600 children are cared for at 40 state-licensed day-care
centers and 70 home day-care centers in Costa Mesa.
Every day, countless parents drop their children off at these centers when
they go to work. Countless day-care workers, many of them low-paid women, open
their arms and their homes.
Monday's tragedy just made that act, which is already fraught with guilt
for many parents, that much harder.
"It's too close for comfort," said a tearful Sharon Riggio, one of
countless neighbors who came by the Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center
Tuesday to deliver flowers.
Diane Denghausen came. She had a baby in her arms, and her son carried a
bouquet of lilies picked from their yard, along with a donated beanie baby.
Denghausen said she almost placed her own child in the center. She and her son
brought the flowers because it was the only thing they could do.
The state says that every licensed center must conform to a range of
safety procedures. All employees must have background checks. All food must be
prepared in prescribed ways. All jungle gyms must have proper cushioning
beneath them and all playgrounds must be surrounded by a four-foot fence.
The playground at Southcoast, the scene of Monday's deadly crash, had been
certified in 1997 and was in compliance, said Dana Williamson, a state
licensing supervisor.
There is no regulation against placing playgrounds adjacent to busy
streets, Williamson added, because it has never occurred to anyone that someone
would aim their car, gun their engine and render a chain-link fence as flat and
defenseless as a pancake.
"I don't know how you could foresee something like this," Williamson said.
"If it's not a car, it could be someone with a gun. How do you stop a gun?
We're not talking about rational behavior." Williamson said that any move to
make school playgrounds locate away from busy streets would immediately run
into a problem: There is a huge day-care shortage in California.
The state licensing office has two responsibilities, he said. The first is
to "safeguard the basic health and safety of children" and the second is to
"fill a need" for child-care facilities.
Williamson said he could imagine activists calling for additional
regulations on day-care facilities. Such regulations could drastically cut the
supply of day-care available, he said.
So Tuesday found many parents and day-care workers sighing, picking up the
pieces and becoming ever more watchful.
Before Monday's tragedy, Gloria Blotti already worried so much about
safety that she refused to take the children in her home day-care center on
field trips.
Vicki Compean, director of A Child's Place day-care center in Costa Mesa,
said she is thankful her center's playground does not face the street.
But both women said they will breathe a little less easy from now on.
"In a case like what happened yesterday, what could you do?" asked an
anguished Compean, who is a good friend of Cheryl Hawkinson, owner of the
Southcoast center.
Compean added that the tragedy, coming so close on the heels of the school
shooting in Colorado, "puts everyone on edge." "You're just on guard for every
single person," she said. "Now we're watching outside too, to see who's driving
by. And it's crazy that it has to be this way."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
'It was the evil in another person who caused this'
Pastor, counselors offer comfort to those affected by playground tragedy.
By GREG RISLING
COSTA MESA -- The silence in the quaint church was broken Tuesday by the
cries of terrified parents and the comforting words of counselors attempting to
console the congregation.
The Lighthouse Coastal Community Church, which sits across the street from
a day-care center where two children were killed in seemingly senseless fashion
Monday, became a second home for those who were directly affected by the
tragedy.
More than tears were shed as counselors and clergy offered their support.
There was a mix of deep sadness, anger and a lone unanswered question: Why
would a man intentionally run over a group of school children, killing two and
injuring five more?
"It wasn't any of your fault," said Sandy Hill, who works for Trauma
Intervention Programs, Inc., an organization that assists children who have
been through crisis. "It was the evil in another person who caused this." For
the next several days as questions are answered, parents, friends and teachers
of children at Southcoast Early Childhood Center will remember the lives of
4-year-old Sierra Soto and 3-year-old Brandon Wiener.
"No answers can ever be enough for this crazy event," said Lighthouse
pastor Tom Bazacas. "The world can't give us back Sierra and Brandon." The most
touching moment of the memorial service -- another will be held at the church
today at 7 p.m. -- was when Southcoast owner Cheryl Hawkinson cried openly in
front of more than 100 people. She tried to express her feelings, but her words
had a hard time coming out.
"Each one of your children I consider one of mine," she said. "We don't
want to give up. I love the kids we lost." Once the memorial concluded, most of
those who were sitting in the pews embraced Hawkinson one by one. It took a
half-hour before the procession of hugs ended.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
Costa Mesa pulls together after tragedy
Donations begin for the families of the two victims of Monday's disaster.
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ
COSTA MESA -- In true community spirit, residents of Costa Mesa are
already showing a great deal of compassion for the victims of Monday's disaster
in which a man intentionally drove his car into a day-care center, killing two
children.
Reeling over the horrifying deaths which occurred at the preschool around
the corner from their store, workers at Diedrich Coffee in Costa Mesa felt they
had to do something Tuesday morning.
As a simple gesture, Erin Brown suggested they donate their tips to the
families of the slain children. As each crew of workers came in for their
shift, they too decided to donate their tips -- by 4:30 p.m., the money had
already accumulated to more than $350.
"This is a real tragedy for the community," said Mary Johnson, manager at
Diedrich Coffee. "We just want people to know we care." A number of concerned
people echoed these sentiments as they called the Daily Pilot, asking where
they could donate money. One small business owner, who anonymously gave half of
his Tuesday's earnings to the victims, said the incident made him think about
his own daughter.
Paige Sorensen and her 6-year-old daughter, Summertime, were both touched
by the donation jar at Diedrich. Summertime remembered taking ballet lessons
with Sierra Soto, one of the children killed in the disaster.
"She was so cute and talkative," Paige Sorensen said of Sierra.
For those wanting to donate money to the families of Sierra Soto or
Brandon Wiener, the Lighthouse Coastal Community Church has set up a memorial
fund. The church is at 301 Magnolia St. in Costa Mesa. For more information,
call (949) 631-3010. Community members may also stop by any Home Savings of
America and deposit donations into account number 162-013-2959.
*************************************
Join the Joe1orbit Serial and Mass Murder Mailing List! For more information on
my Mailing List, please visit:
http://members.aol.com/Joe1orbit/MailingList1.html
**************************************