Relatives of a Memphis high school senior killed after getting hit by a car while walking home are mourning her sudden death.
On Tuesday, Dec. 6, while walking in the turning lane in the Frayser section in Bluff City, 18-year-old Aaliyah Dalton was hit and killed around 5:30 p.m. The young woman died within 24 hours of two other pedestrians who had been killed on the same road, according to WREG.
Family members say the accident happened on Range Line Road, only three short minutes from her home. Dalton reportedly was struck while walking in the turn lane of the road.
Action News 5 reports the Junior ROTC cadet was in her last year at Trezevant High School, and at the time of the accident, she was on her way home from an after-school tutoring program.
Felicia Brown, Dalton’s guardian, said the last communication the two had was a text to tell her she would be late, and after the additional study help, she would walk home.
“She never came home, so I thought maybe she’s hanging out with relatives or whatever,” she said.
Emergency first responders did not contact the family after she was struck.
Relatives said the teen had her ID and phone, but still, they were not notified about the accident or her whereabouts. This prompted the family to form a search party and look all over the area for her, starting first at the school and attempting to trace her steps.
“One of the students said there was an accident after school. Me and my sister and her mother went to the precinct, and they asked her some questions to identify the body, and it was her,” Brown stated.
Sirella Taylor, Aaliyah Dalton’s aunt, said, “I was hoping to find her, but I didn’t want to find her that way.”
“She a baby … she had her whole life ahead of her, and she was working to achieve every goal she wanted, and it was just taken,” Taylor continued. “She was just walking home.”
Information about the driver is scarce. However, witnesses said the 39-year-old motorist did try to check on Dalton but was jumped by men at the scene of the accident who accused him of hitting her on purpose.
Law enforcement has not charged anyone with the girl’s death.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the Memphis Police Department inquiring about possible charges for the driver or the other men on the scene. A spokesperson, Christopher Williams, said, “no additional information is available at this time.”
“It’s an ongoing investigation. We will continue to push updates out on our social media platforms as it becomes available,” he said.
Now, with the investigation in full swing, the family is hoping the Memphis Police Department will closely examine how wet the roads were that early evening and if a speeding motorist’s visibility could have been compromised when coming around the bend.
Taylor had a message for the person responsible for the tragic accident, saying, “People, when you are in the car, you have to slow down.”
“You have to do the speed limit. You have to be aware that pedestrians are crossing the street all day long. This is unbelievable. I still don’t believe it, but I know it is reality, and it is really happening,” she stated.
MPD said there is an issue that needs to be dealt with.
Memphis Police public information officer, Theresa Carlson, said Dalton’s death brings the total up to 78 individuals to die by vehicle in 2022.
“This is a big deal. Pedestrians in the city of Memphis are at risk. Some of it is unfortunate because they’re not utilizing places like crosswalks and intersections across the street,” said Carlson.
The school will offer counselors to help render emotional support to family, friends and other students.
