Another bad name for Street Racers every where:
San Diego, CA - Mother seeks a purpose for death of son in crash
Celeste Lundy did everything she could to keep her oldest son from the gangs and violence in their City Heights neighborhood.
But she couldn't keep her boy, 19-year-old Mike McGlory, from dying in a crash that ended an illegal street race.
"I would hate to think that Mike died in vain," Lundy said yesterday, while surrounded by pictures of him at home. "God doesn't make mistakes. He wanted to make people aware that street racing is no good to watch, or participate in. There are places where they have tracks (for racing), and they should make more."
The crash, which also took the life of a 17-year-old girl, occurred about 3 a.m. Sunday, authorities said, when the driver of an Acura was racing two motorists in a light-industrial area of Sorrento Valley Road. San Diego police said the driver lost control of the car, and it smashed into a tree and burst into flames.
The county Medical Examiner's Office withheld confirmation that the driver was McGlory. The body had been burned beyond recognition, and dental records were needed to confirm the identity. However, family and friends said he was McGlory, who graduated last year from Mt. Miguel High.
The Medical Examiner's Office identified the other victim as Rebeca Martinez.
Her mother, Peggy Kline-Martinez of San Diego, could not be reached for comment yesterday, but one man who visited a makeshift shrine for the victims near the crash site this week said he was one of her lifelong friends.
"She was a mellow kid," he said, "not the kind who would play around; not rowdy, no drugs . . . very sweet."
City officials this week urged passage of tough new laws to discourage street racing. Twelve people have died in races this year.
McGlory's friends remembered him as a "free spirit," and some of them insisted that he did not race.
"Mike worked here for the past year," said Edgar Gomez, parts manager at Kragen Auto Parts on Federal Boulevard near College Boulevard.
"He was the best guy you could work with, a free spirit who loved his job," Gomez said. "He loved working on cars and learning about them."
However, Gomez contradicted police and said McGlory had not modified his Acura to go faster. He also said McGlory did not race his car, and he was not racing that night. He said he was just watching others race.
"He was following two other cars, and they were all speeding," Gomez said.
Lundy, McGlory's mother, thought back yesterday to his childhood, when tears were shed during a happy time.
Big Bird strolled into his third birthday party, she said, and it scared him so much that he started crying. Then all the other kids cried, too.
To protect her three sons over the years, Lundy had them bused to schools in other neighborhoods. But now, she has greater fears for her two younger boys.
"Now I'm afraid to let them out of my sight, to even go skateboarding," she said of Charles, 14, and Bobby, 11. "I want to keep them protected, right beside me, but I can't do that."
Lundy has advice for teens: "Keep away from drugs, stay away from gangs, and stay far away from street racing."