The crash happened just before 8 a.m. Tuesday near Ogden Drive and Colgate Avenue when a Nissan pickup truck slammed into two pedestrians - a mother and her daughter - and then crashed into an apartment building.
"At this time, based upon the totality of the circumstances, this appears to be a tragic accident that possibly resulted from a medical emergency," according to a news release from the LAPD.
Police said the 30-year-old mother was walking with her first-grade daughter to school at nearby Hancock Park Elementary. The truck was traveling at an unsafe speed at the time of the collision, police said.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Her daughter as of Wednesday was in critical, but stable condition after she was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The driver, a man in his 30s, has not been arrested, but police said there's a possibility that charges may be filed as the investigation continues. He was taken to a hospital in stable condition after the crash.
Police will continue to look at video, search for possible witnesses and conduct a forensic examination of the truck as an investigation remains ongoing.
People continued dropping off flowers at a makeshift memorial near the scene of the crash.
Meanwhile, another student was hit by a car Wednesday morning near Berendo Middle School in the Pico-Union area. Police did not provide specific details on the student's condition, but stated the student will survive.
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is calling for more to be done to protect children from speeding drivers.
"We need immediate staffing of crossing guards, more enforcement around schools specific to speed limits and legislation to provide additional safety precautions and measures to ensure safe passages to schools," Carvalho said in a statement on social media.
The city's transportation committee Wednesday afternoon met to discuss putting in more speed bumps and crossing guards near elementary schools.