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A small memorial sits near West Wesley Lake Place and South Sandstone Bluffs Drive where 12-year-old Faith Monet Love was struck by a vehicle and killed Oct. 31, 2011, while trick-or-treating.
By Jackie Valley (contact) 
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 | 7:10 p.m.
12-year-old girl struck, killed on Halloween
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KSNV coverage of a girl hit Monday night while trick-or-treating. Metro Police say the 12-year-old, who later died in the hospital, was hit by a drunk driver, Nov. 1, 2011.
Faith Monet Love
The Summerlin neighborhood off Sahara Avenue boasted carved pumpkins, fake spider webs and sporadic Halloween lights — a spooky yet inviting scene fit for the costumed youngsters traipsing door to door to collect candy.
The stream of trick-or-treaters remained steady until just after 8 p.m. Monday, neighborhood resident Richard Walker said. That’s when Walker and other neighbors heard screams and shouting.
“We just assumed (kids) were having fun or playing in the park,” he said.
But it wasn't fun or play. Instead, a crime scene was unfolding.
Metro Police say a driver, a man suspected of being impaired with alcohol and/or drugs, had just struck 12-year-old Faith Monet Love. It happened at 8:22 p.m. on Sandstone Bluffs Drive, a 25-mph road serving as an artery to neighborhoods in the master-planned community.
Faith, a seventh-grader at Rogich Middle School, had been trick-or-treating, according to police. She died after being transported to University Medical Center.
Police arrested the driver, 41-year-old Justin Caramanica, early Tuesday morning on a count of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs resulting in substantial bodily harm. Metro spokesman Bill Cassell said police charged Caramanica with the drug- and alcohol-related DUI charge because they were testing for both substances.
Caramanica was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, where he remains without bail. He received two speeding citations in 2009 but does not have a criminal record, according to court records.
Police say their investigation shows that Caramanica, who was driving a 2009 Mazda RX-8, hit the girl as he was driving south on Sandstone Bluffs Drive approaching Wesley Lake Place, and she was attempting to walk westbound across the street.
By Tuesday afternoon, a makeshift memorial of flowers, a handwritten note and a giant stuffed rabbit decorated the landscaping at Sandstone Bluffs Drive and Wesley Lake Place. In the street, spray paint outlined the fatal accident scene, and yellow crime-scene tape tied to a tree flapped in the wind.
After adding a bouquet of flowers to the memorial, Walker stared at passing cars tailgating one another and shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s just crazy someone would be doing that — on Halloween of all nights,” he said.
Speeding motorists on Sandstone Bluffs Drive have been a concern for residents in the family-friendly neighborhood, Walker said.
Homeowner Lawrence Slatinsky echoed Walker’s agitation, noting that the intersection is also a school bus stop.
The traffic “is not too heavy, but they really speed through here,” Slatinsky said. “It’s only 25 mph, but they’re at least doing 40 to 50.”
Walker moved here four months ago from Australia and plans to bring his family, including a 3-year-old son, here soon. Tragedies like this, he says, make him extra nervous as a father.
“If a cop wants to come sit up here with radar, I’ll bring him a cup of coffee,” Walker said, adding that speed bumps might slow drivers.
Police said people might think they can drive faster on streets that seem wider than normal. Sandstone Bluffs Drive is a two-lane road that includes a center-turn lane.
“This is just a tragedy that points out the necessity of people obeying speed limits,” Cassell said.
It’s unclear how fast Caramanica was driving, but a neighbor who saw the accident scene said his car was heavily damaged.
Police said traffic planners determine speed limits based on a variety of factors, including the layout of the road and the amount of expected vehicle, bike and pedestrian traffic.
Roads similar to Sandstone Bluffs Drive with 25-mph speed limits “are usually a little bit windy and sometimes a little bit difficult to see a great distance down the road, so it’s necessary to slow down,” Cassell said.
***
Faith Love’s death comes after two high-profile fatal accidents involving juveniles — thrusting pedestrian safety into the Las Vegas spotlight.
A 6-year-old girl died after she and two other children were hit while crossing a North Las Vegas street Oct. 21.
Then Saturday, a 15-year-old boy was hit and killed by a driver in Henderson who was allegedly drunk.
Erin Breen, director of UNLV’s Safe Community Partnership, who has closely watched auto accidents, said Love’s death is the first serious incident she remembered involving a trick-or-treater. Some children have been bumped by cars on Halloween, but Breen said she didn't think there had been a serious injury — and definitely not a death — of a child in costume on an Oct. 31 in more than 15 years.
Breen said the accidents were proof that, despite repeated reminders to watch out for pedestrians and to not drive while impaired by drugs or alcohol, people still haven’t gotten the message.
A report this year said Las Vegas is the sixth most dangerous metropolitan area in the nation for pedestrians.
Even so, Breen said, the three fatal accidents are especially surprising because Henderson and Summerlin have typically been the safest parts of the valley for pedestrians. Also, North Las Vegas has recently taken major steps to make its community better for walkers, she said.
The last two accidents, however, involved motorists suspected of driving under the influence.
“When you add alcohol into the equation, all bets are off,” Breen said.
Las Vegas, and Nevada in general, has been improving in all areas of traffic safety, with the number of fatal crashes falling significantly in recent years.
Traffic deaths have fallen across the state so far this year too, except in one category: DUI.
“It looks great, and then you get to the alcohol numbers and there’s a big red flag,” Breen said.
Accidents involving drugs or alcohol take longer to work through the reporting system because blood tests take weeks to complete. But Breen said the most recent data show Clark County has had two more DUI-related deaths this year than in all of last year. That doesn’t count these two accidents or the last three months of the year.
By Dec. 31, the total number of DUI-related deaths is “going to be up significantly,” she predicted.
***
At Rogich Middle School, grief counselors and psychiatrists from the district’s crisis response team spent Tuesday helping students and staff cope with Faith Love’s sudden death.
“When there’s an abrupt death, that makes it much more difficult than one we know is coming,” said Rosemary Virtuoso, of the district’s department of threat evaluation and crisis response. Virtuoso said the team plans to spend Wednesday at the school.
Some students spent time at school writing sympathy cards for Faith’s family. Taking in the news of the tragedy was difficult for others.
Samantha Harden, a seventh-grader, said she kept expecting to see her friend sitting in their math and reading classes.
“My friend told me, and I kept calling her a liar,” Samantha said.
Kyle Louton, 12, said he cried a lot upon hearing the news about Faith, whom he considered a close friend.
“She was nice, she was funny, she was generous and she always made people smile,” Kyle said.
Meanwhile, closer to the accident scene, Faith Lutheran High School’s safety officer, Randy Muller, set up the usual traffic cones for dismissal along Sandstone Bluffs Drive.
As a private school, most students have rides. But about a dozen students walk to and from school in the neighborhood, Muller said.
Faith’s death has people talking about safety, he acknowledged, but he worries whether it will have a lasting effect on the street known for people speeding — whether intentionally or not.
“People will remember it the next couple days and be careful,” he said, “but after that, it’s the nature of the beast: They’ll forget and go on with life.”
Reporters Gregan Wingert and Kyle Hansen contributed to this story.
I had the privilege of knowing Faith for three years and never met a more respectful, kind, caring, and intelligent child. My heart goes out to the family.
Our fallen children. They never thought for a moment that any adult would ever betray them, much less take their life. Why? For, the truest beauty of children is that they see life through the window that looks out into a wonderful world. This is why, those of us who are responsible, go through pain, grief and heartache trying to protect our children. Always, for parents, the most terrifying aspect is, as our children are growing in the years of their youth, we cannot possibly be by their side every moment to provide them a complete blanket of protection. Therefore, we've got to have faith that our fellow citizens in the community are doing what is just and right. We, as adults, know better than this. This is a prime reason why many parents are stressed when finally conceding to giving their children limited freedoms. Of course, children can never really be cognizant of the many dangers they may well be faced with. This is precisely why we have laws that are designed to protect children.
When I sing the old Louie Armstrong song, "What A Wonderful World", to children, I'm amazed at each time of their strict attention to the lyrics that I'm singing to them. These children understand the meaning of these lyrics because simply, this is how they view life;
I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white, the bright blessed day, and the dark sacred night, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people goin' by. I see friends shaking hands, saying, how do you do, they're really saying, I love you. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow, they'll learn much more than I'll ever know, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Yeah, I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Oh yeah!!!
Play this song periodically, or sing it yourself. It's a beautiful song. Either way, you'll never lose the perspective than an innocent child has on life. And also of great importance, our fallen children will never be forgotten. May these young wonders of our Earth, rest in peace.
They are joking, right? No one speeds on any other street in the Valley, right? This town is full of nuts who think they're on the track at the LV Motor Speedway and little is done to stem the flow. I give Metro high marks for lots of things; getting speeders, reckless drivers, tailgaters and drunks off the road is not one of them. My home fronts Michael Way, a two-lane with a center-turn lane roadway and a 25 MPH limit. Most vehicles ignore it. Once in a blue moon, Metro traffic officers use radar to stop a few speeders. Not only do they speed, they seldom ever recognize the rights of pedestrians to cross the street. You take your life in your own hands when doing so. Way past time to get tough on dangerous drivers.
I live down in the Bishop Gorman/Batterman elementary school area, and the same applies down here. Sadly, it is the parents of the children who seem to be the worst offenders.
Incidentally, this clown Caramanica lives only a few blocks from the accident site. He must have known that there would be children present on Halloween night. If we can't have a sense of community in our own neighborhood, I don't know how we can expect this to become city-wide.
I have been a runner for a long time in many cities, and I have been honked out of crosswalks twice and almost run over three other times by someone who decided that they didn't want to wait for me. All of these happened in Las Vegas, never in another major city I have lived in. This is a big problem.
Metro - look, I think there's a problem, but the reality is when the economy is in the tank and budgets are slashed 20% or whatever, cops can't be everywhere all the time. It's triage, they're dealing with the biggest problems first and violent crime, things like that land on the list higher than preventing things like this.
We unfortunately as pedestrians have to be preventative and if it means overkill in terms of being careful, that's what we have to do. It's not Metro's fault that they're not always there, this is a situation where we have to be careful and teach our children to be overly cautious.
If anything good can come out of this girl's death, it's that we use this opportunity to teach our kids about being overly cautious and reiterate that message over and over. We can't be too careful and can't remind our kids and each other enough - assume cars aren't stopping, assume they don't see you and - gulp - assume the driver is impaired, and when someone does stop and politely wave you across the street, wave back and appreciate it when someone over-delivers.
Two speeding tickets in 2009, this guy was a danger to society, even two tickets, higher insurance rates and a total disregard to human life would have stop this individual from driving recklessly and speeding. Its also shows that roads nor safety sign will make the road ways of Las Vegas any safer. It would not surprise me if this individual lives in the neighborhood. Most speeders usually live in the neighborhood. LVMPD should start a speed watch program for neighborhoods on request. This programs uses volunteers in neighborhood that want to monitor the speed on their street. My prayers go out his family, she looks like a very responsible and sweet individual.
The funny thing about speeders is they always get caught. I see it every time. The guy in the fast lane doing 80-90 mph..I guarantee they have several speeding tickets already. If you speed, you are going to be caught. Then you have the issues with the ticket, insurance and god forbid a situation like this accident. It just isn't worth it for the extra 3 minutes you get there earlier. Everyone I've ever known who has a lead foot has several speeding tickets. I see cops hiding on overpasses, hiding behind barriers, etc. I don't care if you have a radar detector. They aren't fool proof and all they do is allow a complacency to think you can go fast wherever you are.
Just slow down. Just do the speed limit. Slightly over won't hurt you. If you are doing 65 in a 45 or 85 in a 65...you're asking for trouble. 40 in a 25 is also trouble. This town has bad drivers, speeders and tailgaters. These kids are in a war zone.
My thoughts go out to her family and all the families of these kids.
I was with a bunch of parents and our children on Halloween in our neighborhood when a car came down the street, speeding, flashing her lights at US to get out of HER way! We were crossing at a crosswalk and it was approximately 7:00 (a little bit prior). I was SO irritated; I wanted to choke her little self entitled, talking on her cell phone a**
ADULT drivers really need to take a moment and slow it down around the kiddos.