Plaque symbol of enduring pain from tragedy

Greg Risling

COSTA MESA -- The plaque dedicated at Southcoast Early Childhood Learning

Center Saturday afternoon was more than words etched in granite.

The plaque symbolized confronting an immense loss, enduring the ensuing

pain and mending broken hearts. Although the plaque measured 18 inches by

a foot, the support of the community was enormous. Hundreds rallied

around teachers and parents who were devastated by an unforeseeable

event.

On Saturday afternoon, the community came once again to a site where in

May they had left stacks of cards and gardens of flowers.

They prayed for Sierra Soto. They prayed for Brandon Wiener.

Both children were killed on May 3 when 40-year-old Steven Allan Abrams

plowed his car into the day-care center playground. Four-year-old Sierra

and 3-year-old Brandon were fatally injured. Police said the motorist

purposely gunned his car toward the school because he wanted to “execute”

innocent children.

It has been some time since the tragedy, and the plaque remembering the

two tots has been sitting in a classroom.

But no one has forgotten. More than 100 people attended the ceremony

where the plaque was unveiled.

“It was one of the worst events that has happened in our city,” said

Police Chief Dave Snowden. “The plaque dedication is a way of turning a

very unhappy situation into something positive.”

With plastic chairs placed in a semicircle, attendees wept when both

mothers of the slain children unfastened a green, velvet veil that

covered the plaque. Placed on a concrete wall that was built to shield

the playground from any further misfortune, the plaque has the children’s

two favorite symbols near their names.

For Sierra, a shooting star. For Brandon, a teddy bear.

Cindy Soto and Pam Wiener were choked with tears as they spoke of their

children. It was a moment befitting for their anguish. It was also a time

to thank all of those who have supported them in their times of need.

“I’d like to thank the community for the overwhelming support during the

most difficult time of my life,” said Pam Wiener. “I miss Brandon more

than words can say.”

For the Wieners it has been especially difficult coping with the loss of

their son because they have a 2-year-old daughter enrolled at the

day-care center. Initially, they thought about pulling her out of

classes. But with the amount of assistance they have received from

friends and strangers, they have remained very close to the school’s

staff.

“It is very hard for us to come here,” said Brandon’s father, Aaron

Wiener. “I still can’t believe it happened. With the outpouring we have

received, we eventually thought there wasn’t a better place to be for our

daughter.”

Cindy Soto also reflected on her child’s short life and how the tragic

circumstances have prompted her to seek better safety standards at

day-care centers across the state.

“She was my light and my joy and my reason for being here,” she said.

“This has been emotionally taxing, but I feel like God has his hand in

it. It was something that was meant to be.”

Maybe most moving was a poem written by Mike Pope, who lives next door to

the child-care center. Pope heard the car crash last May, followed by

piercing screams. He jumped over a fence and helped one of the more

seriously injured children. He left the boy for a moment and helped lift

the car up with other neighbors as paramedics grabbed the tiny kids.

Pope didn’t know any of the children before the attack, but has come to

embrace them as if they were his own. He was affected enough by the

incident that he began teaching kindergarten at the school.

“I feel a love and bond that will never be broken with all involved that

day,” he wrote in his poem. “For all we fought to save the children,

Jesus would have wanted it that way.

“My prayers are with you always, I’m your friend for evermore. ‘Cause you

see I’m Mike your neighbor and I live just next door.”