Emotional Vigil Held For Mom, 3 Sons Fatally Struck Crossing Roosevelt Boulevard
By Todd Quinones
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - An emotional vigil was held Wednesday night for a mother and her three young sons fatally struck while crossing Roosevelt Boulevard.
The family is relieved to learn charges have been filed.
They are also urging people to slow down on the Boulevard.
Five-year-old Saa-yan Griffin is the only brother to have survived.
He was released from the hospital and held by his father Wednesday night.
He was brought back to the spot where his mom and three brothers were killed, but he survived.
As family and friends held a vigil for 28-year-old Samara Banks and her sons Saa-mir and Saa-sean Williams, and Sa-deem Griffin.
"She loved her children, that's why they were all together last night. Where she went, her children went," Griffin's aunt Rose Williams said.
The four were killed Tuesday night when they were struck by a silver 2012 Audi on Roosevelt Boulevard near 2nd Street (See Previous Story).
Banks was walking home from her grandmother's house at around 10:30 p.m.
Her family says she knew the dangers of crossing the Boulevard.
"She knew it was dangerous. She said it," Griffin's friend Tyeisha Marshall said.
"She was very careful crossing the Boulevard with her kids," Griffin's step-father Walter Holmes said.
We watched as numerous family and friends crossed nearly the same section of the Boulevard in order to get to Wednesday night's vigil.
Organizers later blocked off part of the Boulevard as the father of the two youngest boys said the family is in need of support.
The family has set up a memorial fund for Samara Banks and the children. Donations can be made to the Samara Banks Memorial Fund at any Wells Fargo Branch.
The family says donations can also be sent to Wells Fargo Bank located at 2843 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19132 to help cover funeral costs.
