First grader Jordan Morrison’s death Friday morning struck the nerve of the community with adults and children turning out at a memorial where a car struck her inflicting fatal injuries as she crossed the street.

Team members from her novice Manteca Chargers youth football cheerleading team were there as well. Many tears were shed in her memory as balloons, dolls, a signature board and religious candles were placed on the corner near where the 6-year-old fell.

Jordan was walking up Lincoln Avenue with her 11-year-old brother Cameron at 8:45 a.m. with a baby sitter pushing a stroller on their way to Shasta School. She reportedly was first to cross the street in the path of a late model eastbound Nissan sedan when she was struck.  The driver of the vehicle pulled over to the side of the street, Manteca Police said, saying he hadn’t seen the child and had been blinded by the low morning sun.

Jordan was transported by ambulance to Stockton Airport where she was transferred to an air ambulance and flown to the U.C. Davis trauma center in Sacramento.  She reportedly passed away before arriving at Davis. The team of first responders was visibly shaken by the accident scene two blocks east of North Main Street.

A major accident police investigation team set up measuring instruments in the intersection and kept the area closed from traffic for several hours.

The Manteca Chargers Football squad is having its homecoming game and celebration at 10 a.m. today. Balloons will be released into the air following a prayer in Jordan’s honor on the Sierra High School football field.

The cheerleading coaches said the public is welcome to attend.

It was the second Manteca pedestrian fatality this year. A grandparent was struck and killed while in a crosswalk on Woodward Avenue where it T-intersects with Wellington Avenue as he was pushing his grandson in a stroller to Woodward Park.

In that accident, the driver said they were blinded by the afternoon setting sun.

Last year a driver who struck and killed a man on Center Street in downtown Manteca said she was blinded by the setting sun.

Manteca Police have repeatedly pointed out it is not legal to go the speed limit if conditions such as the sun, fog or road conditions clearly make it unsafe to do so.

Impaired visibility requires slower and  even more attentive driving.