Family mourns girl with 'happy heart' who died in crash
John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
Published August 29, 2007 at midnight
COMMERCE CITY - Mark Filley and his wife, Lisa Marie King, keep looking over their shoulders, looking for someone who is no longer there.
"C'mon Mercedes," they say to themselves, looking for their daughter, Mercedes Marie King, 11, who was killed in a two-car crash Friday morning as her brother was driving her to her first day of school.
On Tuesday night, Filley and his wife stood by a large collection of flowers, stuffed animals, candles and a sign that read "Mercedes we love you" on the corner of East 60th Avenue and Monaco Street, the intersection where the fatal accident occurred.
Police said a car driven by Yesica Moreno, 24, of Commerce City, ran a red light before the collision.
Filley said he's not angry at Moreno. She seemed very remorseful when he had a chance to talk with her earlier this week.
"I just wish people would slow down in life rather than be in a rush," he said. "It's better to be late than dead."
Mercedes was taking a dictionary she had bought for a classmate who didn't have one. That's the kind of kid she was, her mother said.
"She had such a happy heart," King said. "She touched everybody that she ever met."
Her brother Marcus, 19, suffered a broken right arm in the accident.
Before she was taken off life support on Saturday, they laid her hand on her brother's cast and traced the outline of her fingers, right over the place where his arm broke.
Their daughter was a huge fan of all things Disney, especially Tinkerbell. Her room is full of images of the tiny fairy. When Mercedes is buried Saturday, after a 10 a.m. service at Our Lady of the Mother Church in Commerce City, she will be wearing her favorite Tinkerbell pajamas, her parents said.
Friends have set up a fund to help the family with medical and funeral bills.
Contributions can be sent to the Mercedes King Memorial Fund, Rocky Mountain Law Enforcement Credit Union, 700 W. 39th Ave., Denver, Co. 80216.
ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291
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