WARREN City officials hope new street signs will help to keep children safe

The boy who was hit by a vehicle Sunday has been moved out of intensive care.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Street signs urging motorists to slow down will be erected near the spot on Glenwood Street Northeast where a 5-year-old boy was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
The signs should be installed by today, according to Mayor Hank Angelo and Fred Harris, safety-service director.
"They will be signs telling people to slow down because children are playing," Angelo said. "We are hoping this will help the residents and family because we don't want them to worry about this happening again."
MarQuis Gary, of 984 Glenwood, was struck by a green Ford Explorer about 8 p.m. Sunday while riding his bike across the street from his home, said his mother, Sheanita Smith.
MarQuis spent two days in intensive care and remains in St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown in serious condition with bruising on his brain, family members say.
"He is out of intensive care and that is good, good news," said his grandmother, Barbara Thornton. "Also, he started to talk. You have no idea how happy I was to hear his voice. He is really sleepy, but he talked."
What boy said
MarQuis told his grandmother that his head hurt and he didn't want anything.
"I know he must not feel good because he always wants candy or something," Thornton said with a laugh. "I hope they catch whoever did this before he gets home."
No arrests have been made.
Thornton and Harris were critical of the police for not notifying the press sooner than they did. Thornton felt the quicker the information was out in the public, the better chance police would have of apprehending the driver.
Thornton began contacting the press herself Monday afternoon.
"I will be doing my own investigation into the matter," Harris said.
MarQuis, his mother and three siblings moved into the home earlier this year. MarQuis' father died in an automobile crash three years ago, Thornton said.
An account has been established at Cortland Banks to help Marquis' family with the medical bills.