Car Kills Girl, 7, and Injures Sister on Way to School in San Pedro : Tragedy: Parents mourn daughter and fear for the condition of their other child. No charges have been filed against the driver, who told police his brakes failed.

Martin and Maria Ramirez wept as they talked about their young daughter’s dreams, which ended Monday morning when an out-of-control car struck and killed the 7-year-old, Laura, and seriously injured their other young daughter as the sisters walked to school in San Pedro.

“Laura loved to dance,” said Maria Ramirez, 27, sobbing as she clutched her husband’s arm outside Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. “She wanted to be a dancer, a cheerleader, a doctor.”

As Ramirez spoke, surgeons inside the hospital were fighting to save the badly damaged left leg and right foot of the Ramirezes’ other daughter, Gizelle, also 7. The Ramirezes said doctors hope the girl’s leg and foot will not be lost, but it is uncertain what the long-term effects of the injuries will be.

Officer Mike Cummins of the Los Angeles Police Department said the accident occurred at 7:55 a.m. when a 1965 Jeep station wagon came down a hill on 19th Street, swerved around several cars waiting at a stop sign at South Alma Street, swerved again to avoid a car in the intersection and struck the two girls at about 25 m.p.h. Laura and Gizelle were waiting there to cross the street on their way to Leland Elementary School a few blocks away.

Laura Ramirez, a second-grader who turned 7 only two weeks ago, was killed instantly, police said. Gizelle Ramirez, a third-grader, landed on some grass and called for her mother as she lay there in pain, said Debra Smeltzer, 32, a neighbor who said she held the girl’s hand and prayed until paramedics arrived.

“The more I prayed with her, the more she calmed down,” Smeltzer said. “She kept holding on to me.”

Police identified the driver of the Jeep as Gary Hartman, 31, of San Pedro. They said Hartman told them his vehicle’s brakes had failed. No charges were filed, but police impounded the Jeep and the investigation is continuing.

Martin Ramirez said it was only through a simple twist of fate--some misplaced car keys--that he and his wife’s only two children were standing at the corner.

“They never walk to school,” said Ramirez, a chef who works an early morning shift at the 22nd Street Landing restaurant in San Pedro. “I always get off work and drive them to school and then go back to work. But I couldn’t find my car keys, so I walked to work this morning, and they walked to school.”

“When they left, I gave them both a kiss and said ‘God bless you,’ ” Maria Ramirez said. The accident occurred about two blocks from the Ramirezes’ 19th Street home.

Hartman, who could not be reached for comment, was emotionally devastated by the incident, said Bo Califano, 13, who lives with his mother and Hartman in a San Pedro home. “He was just lying there crying,” the boy said.

Officials at the elementary school called in psychologists to help children cope with news of the accident.

“Many of the kids don’t comprehend it,” Principal Richard Vladovic said.

Meanwhile, neighbors stood outside their homes and grieved for hours after the accident.

“I’m sad,” said Lina Cavedoni, 65, who walked from her home a block down the street to place a bouquet of white flowers at the site. “A girl is dead.”

Jeff Doggett, manager at the restaurant where Martin Ramirez works, said he is starting a fund for the Ramirez family. He can be reached at (310) 548-4400.