Awareness & Prevention to save future lives

My name is Sara Toral, I am the mother of David Isaac Soto-Toral who was killed on January 25, 2023. I am heartbroken and a piece of me died when he died.

My son was killed by a city sanitation truck in Sherman Oaks, and I am left along with my friends and family to put him to rest and try to find peace in all of this.

I want to share my son's story.

David loved skating. He was a happy, kind human being. He loved his family and friends. David attended CSUN and he was a bright kid with so much potential. He grew up with goals like everyone else unfortunately my son struggled with drugs. It began with prescribed medication by a Dr. It was a fight he continued to battle but he didn't die from an overdose, he got run over. He was killed by a city truck.

I went to visit the alley where the death happened and I saw endless cars driving over 30-40 miles per hour in this alley. There are no speed bumps or any speed limit signs.

As of today, I have yet to receive a call from our mayor (whom my family voted for), or city council, or even the sanitation truck president. NO ONE has reached out to me, only my friends and family. I know I cannot bring my son back, but I don't want his killing to go in vain.

I want to bring awareness to my son David and focus on the changes that this city needs to make it safer for pedestrians, unhoused humans, and people who have a mental illness or are on drugs. We must do better for them, we must drive safer for them, and we must create laws that hold people accountable not just for who killed my son, but also for the endless people who have died in this city by unsafe drivers.

My goal is to raise money to add speed bumps to the alley and prevent any future deaths from happening to anyone else. May no mother ever have to experience this tragedy again in that area. I would like to also have a permanent memorandum for my son in the place where he was killed. May that place always remind people to drive safely and that an innocent life was taken. I also plan to build an indoor skatepark where people battling with drugs can come and get treatment. Many skateboarders struggle with drugs. They will not only have a place to get free help but also have a place to do what they love.

Awareness and prevention is the goal. Help us save future lives.

Thank you. God bless you.

Sara Toral and Dolores Ybarra