Joshua and Rebecca Scalf never could have imagined that their mother’s life would end so violently, given the thoughtful way she lived as a teacher, a parent, a grandparent, and member of the community.
Darlene Scalf, 76, had been visiting Oakland on July 13, out on one of her joyful morning walks exploring the beauty of her daughter’s neighborhood, when she entered a crosswalk on Fruitvale Avenue at East 27th Street, just down the hill from Manzanita SEED elementary school. An Oakland driver, Jeremiah Mendoza, 40, plowed into her when he turned left onto Fruitvale in a white pickup. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I wasn’t with her,” Joshua said. “None of us were with her. She just died out there alone on that street. She just didn’t deserve that.”…