Two Arrested in Hit-and-Run That Killed Mother of Five

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 had come to her aid when her car became stranded on the roadside.

Sharon McPherson was standing next to her car with Agustin Luz Trejo, 28, who was helping her fill it with gas 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, hitting a parked car, said Burbank Police Sgt. Ron Caruso. Three of McPherson’s five children, ages 9, 12 and 17, were sitting in the car when the two were hit.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday, police found three men on the top level of a parking garage in downtown Burbank, trying to fix the tire of a car matching the description of the suspects’ car.

Police said evidence of the accident was found on the car. The three men were detained for questioning, and two were later booked. Police 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 being struck, McPherson, 43, was transported to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, where she died of internal injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

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

Luz was in serious but stable condition Thursday at County-USC Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. Family members said he has a fractured hip and leg and a possible back injury.

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

Police said he took her to a nearby gas station to buy gas, then drove 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. “How can they ask me why? She had three kids in the car. . . . He did it out of humanity.”

After taking her children into protective custody, police arranged for them to fly to Cincinnati on American Airlines to join relatives.

The airline waived their fares. “We were struck by the magnitude of this tragedy,” airline spokesman Tim Smith said.