Bronx street renamed for heroic teen who tried saving child's life in fire

BELMONT, The Bronx (WABC) -- A street in the Bronx was renamed on Friday for a heroic teenager who was killed while trying to save the life of a child.

Stacey Sager reports on the young hero who died trying to save a little girl from a burning building in the Bronx.

The corner of Crotona Avenue and Grote Street in the Belmont section is now named for Lucas Silverio Mendoza.

Mendoza was only 19 when he ran into a burning building to rescue his three-year-old neighbor, Yasleen McDonald. He had already rescued his grandmother from the burning building.

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Sadly, both Mendoza and McDonald later died.

"He was a wonderful human being," said his second cousin Jesse Alvarez, "A heart of gold. His heart was the size, it couldn't fit in his body.

Friday would have been Silverio's 21st birthday.

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