Two teenagers who attended the same Chicago high school were killed by hit-and-run drivers in separate collisions that occurred in late March, according to their loved ones.
The girls — Lania Smith and Violet Harris — were students at Hyde Park Academy High School, NBC Chicago reported.
Smith, 18, was killed in a hit-and-run crash on March 30, when she was heading to work in Dolton, a suburb of Chicago, according to a GoFundMe page established by her aunt, Shaliah Maddox, in support of Smith’s funeral expenses.
She was one of five siblings and had plans of attending nursing school following graduation, which had been approaching, NBC Chicago reported.
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While speaking with NBC Chicago, Maddox described Smith as “full of life” and a “big, bubbly person ever since she was a kid.”
Dolton police are investigating the “tragic and senseless hit-and-run” that killed Smith, the Village of Dolton said in a statement shared to Facebook on Friday, April 3.
Nine days before that crash, a hit-and-run driver fatally struck Harris, who had been on her scooter, on March 21, according to a GoFundMe page created by her mother, Rachel Sturgis.
Harris was killed in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood the evening of March 21, when she was found lying in the roadway after the driver who hit her allegedly left the area, according to police, ABC7 Chicago reported.
“I am a single mother and would like to give my baby a proper burial,” reads the GoFundMe page established by Sturgis. “She deserves it. She filled the room with smiles when she walked in and brought so much joy to everyone she came in contact with. My children and I are extremely heartbroken.”
Police are still investigating Harris’ crash, according to NBC Chicago. Authorities have not indicated whether a suspect has been identified
“It’s horrendous,” Maddox told the outlet about Smith and Harris’ deaths. “They’re young girls.”
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“You’re not supposed to bury your kids,” Maddox added.
According to the Village of Dolton, police have identified a 2007 red Chevrolet Corvette as the vehicle linked to Smith’s hit-and-run.
“An ‘attempt to locate’ has been issued, and detectives are actively pursuing leads to identify and apprehend the individual responsible,” the village said in its statement.
“We want to be clear: leaving the scene of an incident like this is not only unlawful — it is inhumane,” the statement added.
Us Weekly contacted Dr. Rosette Edinburg, the principal of Hyde Park Academy High School, for comment on Monday, April 6, but did not receive an immediate response.
