What’s happening: Hundreds gather for vigil for student killed in crosswalk | Mourning student’s death is ‘not a one-day thing’
LEWISTON — Police re-opened Main Street late Thursday morning after a vehicle hit and killed a Lewiston Middle School eighth-grader earlier that morning.
The 13-year-old boy was hit at 7:10 a.m. crossing Main Street in the crosswalk at Frye Street. He died at the scene. Police said he was making his way to school.
Traffic was closed from Riverside Street to Russell Street as police investigated.
Police identified the driver as Laurie Young, 54, of South Paris. Young was driving a red Ford F-150 pickup truck. Police said Young was cooperating with the investigation.
The boy was identified as Jayden Cho-Sargent. He lived one street away from the intersection, Lt. Mark Cornelio said at a morning press conference at the police station.
Cho-Sargent was dragged under the truck for some distance before Young stopped to check.
“She knew she had hit someone, but then she stopped and didn’t know where he . . . had gone until she had walked around to the front of her truck and realized,” he said.
Weather conditions — a dark, damp drizzle — likely were a factor in limiting visibility, he said.
“She just did not see him,” he said. The boy was wearing dark clothing. She was on her way to work.
“Best as we can determine, she was not on her cellphone at the time,” Cornelio said.
Police drew Young’s blood to check for any alcohol content as is standard procedure in any fatal accident.
“She’s very shaken up by this whole thing,” he said. She was not injured.
A check of Young’s driving record for the past decade shows no violations.
Once the accident reconstruction and police investigation are complete, those reports will be forwarded to the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office for any possible criminal charges, Cornelio said. Investigators will seek to determine the speed of her truck at the time of the collision, he said. The posted speed in that area is 25 mph, he said.
The boy had been walking alone. Police identified one witness who had been driving some distance behind her truck and pulled over, but apparently hadn’t been able to see what happened, Cornelio said.
The crosswalk is not in a school zone and there was no crossing guard.
“People have a misconception that when you’re in a crosswalk, that you’re safe. You still have to look out for traffic,” Cornelio said. Although the pedestrian has the right-of-way, “you still have to make sure that the traffic is going to stop for you.”
This story will be updated.
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