The family of an 18-year-old Hyde Park Academy High School student killed Monday after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in Dolton are accepting donations for her memorial services.
Lania Smith was at Sibley Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive when she was hit by what Dolton police believe to be a 2007 red Chevrolet Corvette with a black top, with the Illinois license plate number of FR 56003.
Police had not been able to locate the vehicle as of Friday afternoon and asked anyone with information to contact them.
“We want to be clear: leaving the scene of an incident like this is not only unlawful, it is inhumane,” a Dolton spokesperson said in a news release Friday. “We urge the individual responsible to come forward, and we ask anyone with information to assist law enforcement immediately.”
Police say they began traffic safety enforcement missions Thursday night and Friday morning, focusing on speed violations along Sibley Boulevard from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Cottage Grove Avenue.
As of Friday morning, a GoFundMe campaign to raise $6,000 toward Smith’s memorial services had about $3,800 in contributions. Smith’s aunt, Shaliah Maddox, who organized the GoFundMe, said Smith was getting off of a bus and walking to another bus stop to get to her job at a Calumet City restaurant when she was struck.
Smith was bubbly and energetic, loved by her family and friends at Hyde Park Academy, Maddox said.
“She’s always been a dancer, since she was a little girl,” she said, adding it wasn’t a surprise when she joined the high school’s pom squad.
The 18-year-old was looking forward to prom and graduating high school and planned to enroll in nursing school, Maddox said.
“The family is broken,” she said. “Who would have thought we’d be having to do something like this right now … I’m advocating for my niece because I need her story to be heard.”
Smith’s family is seeking justice, hoping the person who left after hitting her will be found and held accountable, Maddox said.
She said the family is grateful for the support of community members such as Trustee Kiana Belcher, who partnered with eight local businesses to contribute $2,000 to help the family with funeral expenses, according to a Dolton news release.
“This outpouring of love is a powerful reminder that even in our darkest moments, our community rises, unites, and refuses to let families suffer alone,” the news release said. “It is a testament to the strength, heart and humanity of Dolton.”
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The tragedy follows a March 21 hit-and-run that killed another Hyde Park Academy High School student, Violet Harris, 15, while she rode a Lime scooter in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.
Police said the driver in that case also hit a 13-year-old girl, who was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in fair condition.