An 18-year-old Student at Edward H. White Military Academy of Leadership was hit by a car and killed while walking near her school bus stop Monday morning.
The crash happened around 6 a.m. at Normandy Boulevard and Lamplighter Lane on Jacksonville’s Westside.
Witnesses told Action News Jax that Shaqia Bryant was walking in a crosswalk to the convenience store across the street to pick up some snacks before walking to her nearby school bus stop.
.@DuvalSchools board member is calling for change after Ed White HS senior Shaqia Bryant was hit and killed while walking near her school bus stop. I'm live at 6 @ActionNewsJax on #Jacksonville's westside pic.twitter.com/x8vLn0lY21
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) May 1, 2018
Two witnesses told Action News Jax a driver ran the red light.
Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Dylan Bryan said the agency is still investigating who was at fault.
The crash report says Codie Martin was the driver as.
Bryant posted prom photos on Facebook two weeks ago.
“She didn’t even get to graduate,” said Ja’Quez Williams, who went to school with Bryant and rides her bus.
Williams said he saw the body near their bus stop, but did not realize it was Bryant until Monday afternoon.
“The bus driver told us who it was,” said Williams. “I felt sorry for her.”
FHP used orange spray paint to mark the debris from the crash.
Action News Jax measured 120 feet of debris in the road.
FHP used orange spray paint to mark debris from the crash that killed Shaqia Bryant. We measured and the spray paint shows there was debris 120 feet away from the crash site. She's the 3rd pedestrian killed at this intersection in the past 3 years. Live at 6 @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/7SWydxxiQk
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) May 1, 2018
Kevin Boston, who has a 6-year-old daughter and works near the intersection, wants drivers to be more careful.
“Sometimes cars are flying. And when cars are flying, kids are crossing the street,” said Boston.
Christina Espinoza said Bryant made her children laugh at their school bus stop every day.
“Every morning, she would be, like, making little funny faces at my kids just to get them to perk up,” said Espinoza. “I honestly went home and cried. It’s so tragic.”
"Every morning, she would be, like, making little funny faces at my kids just to get them to perk up." Classmates & neighbors are sharing their memories of Shaqia Bryant. The Ed White HS student was hit & killed this morning near her school bus stop. I'm live at 6 @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/1421RTujT2
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) May 1, 2018
Bryant is the third pedestrian killed at the intersection within the past three years.
“I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve come this close to getting hit,” said Espinoza. “We also need a longer -- like, the timer. Because a lot of people that do use this area are parents, so they’ve got small children, strollers.”
Action News Jax timed the crosswalk signal; pedestrians have 35 seconds to walk across.
Duval County School Board member Scott Shine told Action News Jax he wants high school to start later in the day so teens aren’t walking to their bus stops in the dark.
Shine said the school district doesn’t start later now because it would involve adding additional bus routes, which would be expensive.
“We need to focus on safety. What do you say to a parent when you wanted to save a couple million dollars, yet their child is killed because they were walking to school in the darkness?” said Shine.
Shine is not running for re-election to the school board.
Cox Media Group
