Pittsburgh community "crushed" after 9-year-old girl riding bike hit, killed by driver
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A community is mourning the 9-year-old girl who was hit and killed by the driver of a vehicle in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood over the weekend.
Police said Courtney Carter was riding her bike on Rosedale Street when the driver hit her on Sunday. A makeshift memorial filled with balloons and a stuffed animal was created and continued to grow on Monday.
"Just riding by and saw the balloons. It's heartbreaking," neighbor Rica Cole said.
"It wasn't nothing on purpose or malicious," Cole added. "But you know accidents happen. We gotta be more aware of our little ones."
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police said the driver of the SUV that hit the girl stayed at the scene and was cooperative with investigators. After being hit, the girl was taken to a local hospital, where she died.
"It just crushed me. It crushed me. I'm a mother too and it crushed me," Dr. Staci Ford said.
Ford is a trauma specialist with Kyle's Hope. Ford is working with the Carter family as they navigate the unexpected tragedy. She met with them on Monday and says they're still trying to process the loss.
"We're here to support the family, to allow them to grieve, respectfully grieve, to have their private, personal time to grieve, to do whatever we can to support them through this," Ford said.
In a statement on Monday evening, Mayor Ed Gainey said, in part:
"Our Collision Investigation Unit is actively working to investigate this incident in real-time. Once the investigation is complete, our Vision Zero Fatal Crash Response Team will complete a site visit to determine what improvements can be made to ensure that this never happens again."
Pittsburgh police said the investigation is active. No charges have been filed as of Monday evening.
