Anthony Martinez

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Anthony Martinez
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Age: 6

Location:
1300 block of West Olive Street
Oxnard , CA
United States
Photo by Joe Lumaya, Special to The Star  Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/photos/2012/may/11/166640/#ixzz2t489oSxW - vcstar.com

A ghost bike was installed for Anthony Martinez, who was riding his bike near his home on Thanksgiving day.

Anthony's father was moved to join the group of volunteers installing ghost bikes in the area.

According to the VC Star


<b>Anthony Martinez Jr.</b>

Anthony Martinez Jr.

The 6-year-old boy struck and killed by a pickup while riding a bike
near his Oxnard home Thanksgiving afternoon was a smart, athletic child
who loved celebrations so much he called himself "Mr. Holiday," grieving
family members said Friday.

"He was just sunshine in our lives," said his mother, Gloria Burciaga, 40.

Cooking and baking were among Anthony's many interests, and he spent
much of Thanksgiving helping in the kitchen, said his father, Anthony
Martinez, 41.

"He helped me put the turkey in the oven. He helped me baste the
ham," Martinez said. Ham was Anthony's favorite dish, and on this
Thanksgiving, he applied a special glaze he'd helped come up with the
year before, his father said.

The family ate a Thanksgiving lunch together about 2 p.m., and they
were preparing to celebrate the holiday with a dinner at Anthony Jr.'s
grandmother's house when the accident occurred, his father said.

While he worked to finish preparing the family's the second holiday
meal, Martinez was going in and out of the house, he said. At one point,
he went outside to watch his 5-year-old son Angel show how he could
ride a bike, he said.

Afterward, Anthony Jr. went outside with two older cousins, Martinez
said. The 6-year-old had been outside for less than five minutes when
his father heard screaming.

"I ran up to where Anthony was, and he was gone. I just sat there and held him for as long as I could," his father said.

Martinez said he typically sits in the middle of his residential
street to watch his children when they're riding their bikes and puts
out traffic cones to alert motorists. He added that the children know
they're not allowed to pass the cones.

According to the preliminary investigation by Oxnard police, Anthony
was riding a bike on the south sidewalk of the 1300 block of Olive
Street when he went into the road for unknown reason and was struck by a
pickup driven by Jesus Calderon Ruvalcaba, 50, of Oxnard, officials
said. The boy was run over after he fell off his bike, and he was
pronounced dead at the scene after authorities responded to a 4:22 p.m.
report of the incident, police said.

It was unclear why the boy had ridden into the road, police said. The
driver was not suspected of driving under the influence, police said.

Martinez said his son was hit while he was riding around a commercial truck that blocks the view of the sidewalk.

The driver who struck the boy lived on the same block, relatives and neighbors said.

Before the crash, Calderon Ruvalcaba's family was waiting for him to
arrive home, since he worked Thanksgiving Day at his furniture
upholstery shop in Saticoy, said Guillermo Galicia of Los Angeles, who
identified himself as the driver's son. It was around 4:20 p.m. when
they heard a loud commotion outside the street, Galicia said.

"We went outside and I just saw him by the car ... on the floor,
crying," said the driver's son, adding that his father is a very
cautious man. Neighbors who did not want to be identified also said the
50-year-old man was always very cautious when driving his truck down the
residential neighborhood.

Anthony's family was devastated by the fatal incident, which his mother described as a horrible accident.

An outgoing first-grader at Parkview Elementary in Port Hueneme,
Anthony loved to dance, draw and prepare for holidays, relatives said.

"He was the joy of the house," Martinez said of his son. "He brought the party everywhere he was."

As "Mr. Holiday," his interest wasn't limited to Christmas and
Thanksgiving, his mother said. He had asked how the family would mark
occasions such as Veterans Day and Valentine's Day, she said.

The second of five siblings, Anthony was learning to box, and he
played on T-ball and flag football teams, relatives said. He also loved
the movie "Avatar," said his older sister, Angelique Martinez, 16.

A highly intelligent boy who was a good student, Anthony used flash
cards to teach himself skills beyond his grade level, such as addition
and subtraction with high numbers, his older sister said.

"He was an overachiever on so many levels," she said.

Angelique said she wished for 10 years to have a sibling, and the day of Anthony Jr.'s birth was the happiest in her life.

She added that her brother's intelligence and many talents motivated
her to be better in school so she could one day help put him through
college, she said.

"He would have been the most perfect man," she said, beginning to cry during a phone interview. "He was such as brilliant boy."

More on the crash on the BikinginLA blog