The tragedy happened just a few minutes after 7:00 Wednesday morning in the 21,000 block of Front Beach Road. 6-year-old Julie Lister and her 9-year-old step-brother, Michael McFall, were walking to their bus stop with their mother.

61-year-old Kathleen Jackson, of Vernon, was driving a 1993 Oldsmobile when, according to witnesses, the children dashed out into the street. Jackson hit the children.

Esmeralda Castillo, who witnessed the crash, says, "The kids were standing right there. They were so happy that their mom bought them pictures and they were about to cross, and then when they were about to cross the car just ran over them."

Little Julie Lister was pronounced dead at the scene. McFall is in critical condition. The children were about to catch their bus to Hutchison Beach Elementary; their classmates saw the crash.

Castillo says, "The girl went on top of the trunk over there, it took her all the way over there and dropped the kid right there, dropped Michael right there... They were screaming."

Julie was a first grader at Hutchison Beach. Michael is a third-grader. The school district sent grief counselors to the school Wednesday to help both students and staff.

Beach Elementary principal Shirley Ramsey says, "Our heart goes out to the family of both our students that were in the accident this morning."

Neighbors describe Julie Lister as a nice neighborhood girl, and say it's hard to believe she's gone. Terry Carrigan, from the Laguna Beach Christian Retreat, says, "It's just, you think about the family of these kids and what they're going through right now and I just hope God's with them."

Anybody who needs help dealing with this incident is encouraged to call Hutchison Beach Elementary School at (850) 233-5195. School officials say the family was with Michael as he underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon. He is still in critical condition.