A Light for Derick, A Beacon for Change

ACCE Sign under the newly constructed street light on Wadsworth and Vernan intersection

Students walking to Carver Middle School are now crossing Vernon and Wadsworth safely as cars pause under a newly installed red light. For many of them, it is their final step in their morning routine.

For the community, for the families who fought for it, and for the advocacy groups that refused to be ignored, it carries a heavier meaning. 

That meaning was front and center at a press conference held at the intersection, where students, families, alongside Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action, Reclaim Our Schools LA, and SAFE (Streets Are For Everyone) came together to reflect on what it took to finally fix the 10 seconds it takes a child to cross the street safely to school. 

Two years ago, on April 18, 2024, 12-year-old Derick Serrano was walking home from Carver Middle School when he was hit and killed by a speeding driver at Vernon and Wadsworth.

He should have been safe, and he should have made it home.

When he didn’t, the community stepped up, demanding the safety that every child deserves and the reassurance every parent should have.

For years, families in Historic South Central were well aware of the dangers of this intersection. Kids crossed without signals or crosswalks. Drivers sped through streets adjacent to the school. The risk was obvious long before Derrick was killed.

His death did not reveal a new problem. It forced action on one that had been ignored for far too long.

Claudia Serrano, Derick’s mother, surrounded by community members and advocacy groups

A press conference was held at the intersection of Vernon and Wadsworth. Family members, students, neighbors, and advocates stood together, where Derick was killed nearly two years ago. It was emotional, heavy, and deeply honest.

At the heart of the gathering was Derick’s family, including Derick’s mom, Claudia Serrano, who stood alongside the community in remembrance.

Among those present were Mr. Lemus, Derick’s former teacher and a UTLA member; Gustavo Rangel, a close friend of Derick and a former Carver student; Ms. Karla Griego, Board Member of District 5; Mrs. Bonnie, a former employee at Carver Middle School now at Jefferson High School; Estuardo Mazariegos co-director at ACCE Action and Liz Hernandez, Organizer with the Education Chapter at ACCE Action.

Gustavo Rangel, a close friend of Derick Serrano, speaking at Press Conference

The community put in countless hours organizing, advocating, and pushing for the city to fix something that should have been addressed long ago. All of this effort was about something simple: fixing the 10 seconds it takes a child to cross the street safely.

Streets Are For Everyone partnered with ACCE Action to help channel urgency and concern into physical safety improvements. It took sustained pressure, a ton of volunteering, and the determination of the entire community refusing to be ignored.

Aaron Garcia, SAFE’s Director of LA County Advocacy, speaking at Press Conference.

That effort led to funding approved by Curren Price, and on April 1, 2026, a traffic signal was finally installed.

The press conference revolved around remembrance and accountability. It was about ensuring this moment was not treated as an isolated tragedy but as part of a larger pattern that has been ignored for too long.

The city has a responsibility to protect its children, but too often it reacts to tragedy instead of preventing it.

That is why traffic violence remains the leading cause of death for children ages 4 to 14 in Los Angeles.

This intersection is now safer for all the students at Carver Middle School. There is relief in that. But it should never have taken this long, or this much loss, to make a street safer. 

Because what happened here is not unusual.

There were 307 deaths and 1,661 serious injuries within a three-mile radius of Carver Middle School between 2018 and 2023. That is what students in this neighborhood are navigating every day just to get to school and back home safely.

This corner matters. It matters deeply to Derick’s family, to his classmates, and to this community. But it is only the beginning of the work ahead.

Claudia Serrano surrounded by close family and community members

At Streets Are For Everyone, our focus now goes beyond Vernon and Wadsworth. We are expanding this fight across South Central Los Angeles. We will be partnering with ACCE Action to go into the community, listen to residents, and identify every dangerous intersection that continues to put students at risk. And when we find them, we will demand that they be fixed. We will hold the city and every responsible agency accountable.

It should not fall on parents to do this work. Parents should not have to spend their evenings gathering signatures, organizing neighbors, and pleading with officials just to PROVE their children deserve to be alive.

And yet, they have.

So families step in. Communities organize. And at SAFE, we will stand with them.
Because if the system will not move fast enough to protect our children, we will push it until it does.

We will not wait for another family to grieve. We will not accept preventable loss as normal. Safety is not something that should come after tragedy.

It is a right. And it must come before it.