When Shaun Jensen arrived home on Dec. 23 to a note on his door from the police saying that his mother was in the hospital, he had no way of getting to the hospital.
His driver’s license had expired – there was no sense in renewing it since his family couldn’t afford car repair payments – and he had no family in the area he could call.
His mother, Jennifer Jensen, had been in a traffic collision. Jenson was traveling southbound on a motorcycle just after 3 p.m. on Sepulveda Boulevard on a green light, when she and a 17-year-old making a U-turn at the intersection of Sepulveda and 8th Street collided.
Manhattan Beach Sergeant Steve Kitsios was the first to respond to the scene, giving chest compressions to Jensen before she was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital Emergency Room, where she died of head trauma injuries, according to a police statement. She was 53.
What followed the tragedy was a compassionate display of the Los Angeles community coming together, opening their hearts and wallets, to support the two sons Jensen left behind.
The night of the accident, the Manhattan Beach Police Department Victim Assistance Team took Shaun grocery shopping for a Christmas dinner, as his mom had been on her way to buy groceries before the accident. The next morning, the Manhattan Beach Police Officers Association donated $500 to the Redondo Beach family. Within a week, the community had donated $7,500, and that number continues to rise.
“My mom was like my best friend basically, she was like a big sister to me. It’s been me and my brother and my mom for as long as I’ve been born,” said the 23-year-old son, a Redondo Union graduate who now attends Santa Monica College. “I just miss her.”
Along with losing his best friend, Shaun has inherited a tremendous responsibility. His 25-year-old brother, Alex, is mentally disabled and although highly functional, cannot be left alone for long periods of time.
A former nurse, Jensen also served as an army medic for five years. “She was very active in Veterans Affairs,” Kitsios said. Kitsios, speaking on behalf of the Manhattan Beach Police Officers Association, felt a special connection to the boys after hearing their story and having responded to the scene, and felt compelled to help.
Last week, Kitsios took Shaun to the bank to open checking and savings accounts and helped him start the process of getting his license renewed. He also gave Shaun his old iPhone and added Shaun to his family plan. “I’m just paying that every month until he’s stable,” he said, adding that the benefit to the boys is worth the monthly cost. “It’s more important that this kid has a phone to be able to call his brother while he’s at school.”
Among the many donors who contributed food and clothes to the boys, one has offered to pay for Shaun’s college tuition; another has offered to cover the boys’ rent for a couple months. A family from Cypress has donated a 46-inch television and another donor has contributed a computer, Kitsios said.
Upon learning the news of the accident, Russ Varon, co-owner of Morgan’s Jewelers, was also determined to lend a hand. Varon leased a 2012 Volkswagon Passat for Shaun, and is also covering insurance costs.
Kitsios, grateful for Varon’s kindness, said this would help Shaun care for his brother. “If Shaun does get a car, that’s two and a half hours he gets with his brother per day, rather than taking the bus. If he gets a computer, that’s time he can be at home with his brother instead of the library or at a friend’s house,” Kitsios said.
Exactly two years ago, Varon lost his own son, Matt, while he was at home visiting from college. Matt was 21, the same age as Shaun. “It kind of hit home,” Varon said over the phone on Tuesday, while he was at the dealership picking up the car for Shaun. He had just dropped Shaun off at school in Santa Monica, where the student usually takes the bus. The two had plans to go shopping for clothes that evening.
In the future, Varon hopes to find the boys better housing and help Shaun transfer to a university. “I want to help Shaun have a normal life,” Varon said. “He never had a father; I want to be there for him.”
The Manhattan Beach Police Officers Association is still accepting checks and donations on behalf of the family. “The Jensen brothers need our help long term, not just now. They have long road ahead of them,” Kitsios said.
Those interested in donating can make checks out to the association, with a note that the funds are for the Jensen family, and can be mailed to Manhattan Beach POA, P.O. Box 3542, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266.
