Two Toddlers Killed in Separate Accidents : Tragedy: Both die after being run over in driveways. In Santa Ana, one driver is sought after he apparently fled the scene.

A 2-year-old boy and a 16-month-old girl died Wednesday after being hit by cars in separate accidents in Westminster and Santa Ana, police said.

The boy, Valentino Diaz, died Wednesday afternoon after he was run over in a neighbor’s driveway in the 7100 block of Plaza Street by a four-wheel-drive vehicle, said Officer Robin Kapp of the Westminster Police Department.

Valentino had been playing with friends in his family’s yard next to Eleanor Martinez’s driveway shortly after 2 p.m. His 29-year-old mother, Daphne, had been supervising the children, but she went inside her home to check on the laundry, Kapp said.

Moments later, Martinez pulled into her driveway, Kapp said. She realized she did not park her vehicle straight and backed up, running over the boy, who had wandered into her driveway.

The boy died at UCI Medical Center in Orange about 3 p.m., police said.

No charges will be filed, Kapp said.

In the Santa Ana incident, police are searching for a man who is suspected of backing his pickup over a 16-month-old girl Tuesday night, fatally injuring her in her family’s driveway.

Rayann Hernandez was pronounced dead at 12:05 a.m. Wednesday at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, Sgt. Bob Clark said.

The accident occurred shortly after 7 p.m. The driver had been talking to the girl’s father, Desiderio Hernandez Jr., outside the family’s home in the 1400 block of West St. Anne Place.

The driver, whose identity is being withheld by police, then backed out of the driveway, crushing the toddler, police said. The father apparently had been aware that his daughter was outside, but not that she was in the driveway, police said.

“The father turned around in time to see his daughter run over by the car,” Clark said. “She lay bleeding in the driveway.”

The driver sped off, Clark said. Police later found the vehicle abandoned about a block away from the accident site, police said.

The toddler was taken to Coastal Communities Hospital in critical condition and was subsequently transferred to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana for further treatment, Clark said.

Police haven’t yet decided whether to charge the driver with a crime.

“It’s unclear why he ran off and whether he was aware of what happened,” Clark said.