11-year-old girl struck, killed by truck in west Charlotte, police say

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An 11-year-old girl died Wednesday afternoon after being hit by a pickup truck on West Boulevard, near Ridge Avenue, police said.

“I heard some skid marks from the tires and when I looked out the window, it appears the little girl was laid out. She wasn't moving or anything," witness Davion Brevard said.

Ty'Asia Young and her sister were leaving a store at about 5:40 p.m. to go home when they tried to cross West Boulevard, officers said.

The 11-year-old's mother said Thursday that it is a dangerous stretch of road and she believes this could have been prevented.

She also said her daughter had potential as a bright young girl.

"Asia was very smart. Funny, loving, silly. She wanted to be a scientist,” Mary Fryar said.

A Honda Ridgeline was traveling westbound when the girl crossed the street where there was no crosswalk, officials told Channel 9, when the pickup truck struck one of the girls.

The driver stopped at the scene and was not injured and police said neither speed or alcohol use were contributing factors.

No charges have been filed.

Residents said it’s a dangerous road and are now demanding serious changes.

“There is no walkway,” Brenda Dunlap said. “There's nothing to slow the traffic down for people to cross over to get to the store.”

They want the speed limit lowered and the road made pedestrian friendly.

"All I was thinking about is the little kids, my family who comes to my house and always crosses the street," said one neighbor. "I wouldn't want that to happen to anybody else."

Channel 9 checked and found at least two other serious crashes involving pedestrians in the last three years.

“This is about the worst I've seen it in 18 years. I've not seen it this bad,” said Sgt. David Sloan, who supervises CMPD’s major crash investigations unit, the team that investigates traffic fatalities.

Sloan said they have already investigated 43 traffic fatalities in 2016, compared with 22 at the same time last year, and he says there are no single explanations for the increase.

On Thursday, officers from Charlotte and several surrounding communities were training for a program called Watch For Me.

It highlights strategies for keeping pedestrians and bicyclists safe, and Sgt. Sloan says they will roll the program out later this summer, and focus on areas around schools when classes start in August.

“We need to step it back up and start doing more and maybe that will help,” he said.

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