Day-care owner left stunned by lawsuit

Greg Risling

COSTA MESA -- Sheryl Hawkinson is pained by the eight-page lawsuit

blaming her and others for a wrenching tragedy that killed two of the

many children she looked after at her day-care center.

No matter that Hawkinson has had a heart attack, battled through a

dispute with neighbors over a concrete wall and had complications with

her own pregnancy since 4-year-old Sierra Soto and 3-year-old Brandon

Wiener died while under her care.

Now Brandon’s parents have fired a surprising volley, a lawsuit claiming

there should have been better safeguards to protect their son.

The lawsuit comes just three days after Hawkinson stood next to Brandon’s

mother, Pam, at an emotional ceremony in which a plaque was dedicated in

honor of the slain children.

“We are really hurt by this,” Hawkinson said. “Honestly, it’s like a

family member suing me.”

On the first page of the lawsuit, Hawkinson’s name is next to the man

blamed for the madness, 40-year-old Steven Allen Abrams.

On May 3, 1999, Abrams gunned his car toward the playground at the

Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center. Along with Brandon and

Sierra, four other children and a teacher’s aide were injured. A

chain-link fence lined the playground, but did little to stop Abrams’

oncoming Cadillac.

The lawsuit claims Hawkinson had sought to erect another fence, one

stronger and more protective. Indeed, Hawkinson said she did want to put

up another chain-link fence on Magnolia Avenue for the remainder of the

playground. But she can’t understand why the lawsuit alleges she was

negligent.

“My children used the same playground,” she said. “Do you think I would

want to put them at risk?”

Evan Ginsburg, who represents the Wieners, said the couple were

apprehensive about naming Hawkinson in the lawsuit. They have a

2-year-old still enrolled at the center.

“They really didn’t want to go forward,” Ginsburg said. “She’s close to

Sheryl and the teachers. They thought about it long and hard and felt it

was necessary at this point.”

The Wieners are seeking $10,000 for funeral and burial expenses and

$50,000 in special damages. They also ask for punitive damages against

Abrams and general legal costs.

There is a chance that Hawkinson and the property owner, Lighthouse

Coastal Community Church, could be dropped from the lawsuit at a later

date. It is common when a civil lawsuit is filed that all parties

involved are listed as defendants.

No set of lawsuits may have stirred more anger than those filed after a

horrific crash on Irvine Avenue in 1997. Ten Newport Harbor High School

students were crammed into a Chevrolet Blazer that overturned on the

curvy street. One teen, 18-year-old Donny Bridgman, was killed, and many

of the other students were seriously injured.

A slew of lawsuits were filed a year later against the driver, Jason

Rausch, the city of Newport Beach and a landscaping company. All of the

suits were settled out of court last year.

But before a closed-door agreement had been reached between attorneys,

one of the teens injured that night, Amanda Arthur, decided to drop her

lawsuit against Newport Beach and thelandscaping company. Arthur and her

mother felt it was morally wrong to blame the two parties for the

accident.

“The law requires plaintiffs to file a suit even if it is against a party

that bears a small responsibility,” said Jim DiCesare, one of the

attorneys involved in the Irvine Avenue lawsuit. “Many people are forced

to file because of the law. It’s done in order to protect the client.”

It is not clear whether any of the other parents who had children either

killed, injured or traumatized in the day-care center attack intend to

take legal action. Hawkinson said her feelings haven’t changed toward the

Wiener family, although they may be sitting on opposite sides of the

courtroom.

“I blame this entire mess on Abrams,” Hawkinson said. “Pam means a lot to

me. But I’m really tired and emotionally worn out. I just want this to

end.”