Preschool Closes After 1999 Deaths

COSTA MESA —  A preschool where two students were killed and five others injured when a man intentionally drove his car into a crowded playground in 1999 has quietly closed.

The Southcoast Early Childhood Learning Center, which survived that tragedy as well as a battle with neighbors opposed to a security fence installed after the killings, closed Sept. 1.

Steven Allen Abrams was convicted of murder in the deaths of Brandon Wiener and Sierra Soto.

Southcoast Director Sheryl Hawkinson, who had a heart attack at a memorial service for them, could not be reached for comment Monday. But the Rev. Leon Sikes at the Lighthouse Coastal Community Church, which leased the site to Hawkinson, said she had closed the school to spend more time with her family, including a son born in April.

Abrams, who said he committed the murders in order to silence the “brain wave police” who were urging him to kill, awaits sentencing. Jurors first must determine whether Abrams was sane when he committed the crime.