First report:
A 6-year-old who was killed when she was struck by an SUV on a Dayton street was remembered as an “an angel” who was “full of energy and life,” family members said Saturday.
Genae L. Taste died after she was struck in the 500 block of Ingram Street near McCabe Avenue around 6:30 p.m. Friday, police said.
Genae’s mother, Portia L. Johnson, 34, of Dayton, said her daughter, who was a kindergartner at Edison Elementary School, was “very smart.”
“She had the most beautiful laugh and it was full of energy and life,” she said tearfully Saturday. “Everybody loved to be around Ge-ge.
“She loved school and she loved playing with her friends.”
Police detectives detained and questioned a 24-year-old driver and the accident remained under investigation, Dayton police Sgt. Jeff Spires said Saturday. “As of right now, I don’t know what if any charges were brought against the individual,” he said. Authorities have not identified the driver.
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Deter Tattooing, 42, of Dayton, Genae’s uncle, said his niece was “an angel.”
“She’s very uplifting,” said Tattooing, who had questions about the accident he wanted answered. “She opened up everybody’s spirits. She warms up your heart. … She’s everything.”
Chandra C. Johnson, 32, the girl’s godmother, said Genea came to her house in the neighborhood near where she lived everyday.
“She was always happy,” she said. “She got along with all the kids. She was like a little mother. Everybody loved her.”
A candlelight vigil was set for Saturday night at the site of the accident at Ingram and McCabe, she said.
Credit: DeANGELO BYRD / STAFF
Credit: DeANGELO BYRD / STAFF
The Montgomery County Coroner’s office performed an autopsy Saturday, authorities said.
Dayton police said the child was in the street when a navy blue Chevrolet SUV struck her. She had been playing in a yard just before the accident, witnesses said.
A nurse performed CPR at the scene while they waited for crews to arrive, authorities said.
“She literally ran over her with all four wheels,” one 9-1-1 caller told emergency dispatchers.
A woman pleaded with crews to hurry, saying the girl was “bleeding from the head.”
When asked whether the girl was breathing or conscious, the woman sobbed: “No, no, no, no, no.”
‘It’s emotionally taxing, our officers were the first ones on scene, and they provided CPR to the young child, several of them have children on the same age,” said Dayton Police Lt. Steven Bauer.
The SUV involved in the crash was towed, police said.