As neighbors placed stuffed animals and bouquets at a roadside memorial for 2-year-old Edgar Eduardo Bernal on Monday morning, his parents, Rico and Xochitl Bernal, sat inside a house on South Clay Street collapsed in grief.
Tears streamed down Xochitl’s face as she looked at cellphone pictures of their son, who was killed Sunday afternoon when he darted into the street from a Mother’s Day party.
“The parents are torn apart,” relative Priscilla Reyes said Monday morning. “He was their only boy. They tried so hard to have a boy, and now he’s gone. They are in a state of shock, like zombies.”
Witnesses said the boy stepped from behind a parked car in the 400 block of South Clay about 5:30 p.m. and was struck by a small pickup. The boy died before emergency crews arrived, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
The Bernals have two daughters, Nicole, 3, and Marietta, 7.
Standing on the doorstep with her cousins, Marietta wept inconsolably as she talked about her little brother. “He always hugged me,” she said.
Two wooden picnic tables were still in the front yard of the house on South Clay, evidence of the Mother’s Day party held at the home of Xochitl’s sister-in-law.
Reyes said she had attended a party given by her own daughter and was headed over to the party on South Clay. But when she got there, the street was blocked with yellow police tape.
“He was an adorable little boy, always smiling,” Reyes said. “He was a typical 2-year-old.”
Edgar had been running around with Reyes’ grandson, she said, and stepped in front of the truck before anyone could stop him.
The Bernal family lives around the corner but stayed at the trim, tan brick house, site of the accident, on Monday, which was Mother’s Day in Mexico.
Mother’s Day is observed on May 10 in Mexico and is celebrated with a Mass at the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The curbside monument to little Edgar included a candle decorated with the image of the Virgin Mary.
“Today is Mother’s Day. It’s going to be the most horrible day for the rest of her life,” Reyes said of Xochitl.
Police are still investigating but say drugs or alcohol did not play a role in the accident.
The driver, a woman, has been released “pending additional investigation, which will be presented to the district attorney to determine whether charges will be filed,” Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
“It appears to be just a very unfortunate tragic accident.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
