Family, friends pray for healing, call for justice for mom, daughter hurt in Tarentum hit-and-run

Prayers for healing, calls for justice and balloons rose from near the Tarentum Bridge on Saturday afternoon, not far from where a Brackenridge woman and her 9-year-old daughter were struck by a car in a hit-and-run just over a week ago.

Family and friends of Lyric Manley Jackson, 26, and her 9-year-old daughter, Symia, gathered in the Marathon gas station’s parking lot, within sight of Route 366 (Ross Street) and Seventh Avenue at the foot of the bridge, where police say the Jacksons were hit by an SUV on Dec. 30.

Police arrested Lois A. Davis, 55, of Lower Burrell on Friday and charged her in the incident.

“I don’t want to be at this intersection,” said Clifford Manley of Brackenridge, father of Lyric and grandfather of Symia. “It tears me apart to be right here.”

Manley said his daughter and granddaughter live with him. The night they were hit, about 6 p.m., Manley said they were walking home from Family Dollar in West Tarentum.

Manley wants to raise awareness of the intersection, which he said needs to be made safer for pedestrians, who he said need to be vigilant.

“It’s a bad intersection,” he said. “I’m glad they had cameras everywhere. There’s no denying: Cameras don’t lie.”

Police said the cameras show Lyric and Symia walked in front of the SUV against the crosswalk signal. Davis had a green light and the right of way but did not stop after hitting them and fled across the bridge, police said. They said Davis did not report the collision.

Lyric and Symia landed about 80 feet from the crosswalk.

“Justice has to be served,” said Lyric’s cousin, Heather Manley of Brackenridge. “She’s fighting for her life. She didn’t deserve that.”

Cynthia Vogel of Pine Township and Cheryl Wyble of Tarentum are members of Church at the Heights in Pine, which runs The Streetlight, an outreach ministry in Tarentum. They came to offer food and coffee after the rally, and to give the family a teddy bear for Symia.

“It’s something for her to hold until she gets her mom back,” Vogel said.

“It’s heartbreaking that little girl had to watch her mom suffer like that,” Wyble said. “This is going to hurt her for the rest of her life.”

Symia has been released from UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and is doing better.

Manley said Lyric remains in critical condition at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Although Lyric is expected to recover, Manley said she has severe brain injuries and, more than a week after the collision, is still not breathing on her own.

“It’s a long road to recovery,” he said. “We’re just going to lift her up today.”

Good Samaritan attends event

Among those present was Anthony Stoves of Lower Burrell. The night of the collision, he and his girlfriend, Samantha Friday, had left the Walmart in Harrison and were approaching the Tarentum Bridge on their way to get dinner in New Kensington when they drove upon the scene.

Stoves was an emergency medical technician for three years before changing careers and becoming a plumber. He remembers hearing Symia crying and calling for her mother, who was on the road with a puddle of blood around her head.

After checking Lyric for a pulse and not finding one, Stoves began CPR until police and an ambulance arrived. He checked her carotid artery and felt a pulse.

Despite his years as an EMT, Stoves said this was the worst incident he has seen.

“It’s been a thought that hasn’t left my mind since. I think about the family constantly,” he said. “I’m praying she pulls out of this.”

Stoves said the incident is an example of why people need to learn CPR. “Time matters in an incident like this,” he said.

“The family needs help with finances,” he said. “I just wish that everybody would donate a small amount to the family.”

GoFundMe reaches half the goal

Lyric’s sister Lanae Manley Jackson of Greensburg is raising money through a GoFundMe campaign. As of Saturday, it had raised $7,500 toward a $15,000 goal.

“We have to protect our babies from anything like this happening again,” Lanae Jackson said at the rally. “We want justice. We want to make sure this woman doesn’t walk and understands the damage she did.”

Allegheny County Police charged Davis with two felonies related to the accident and a summary offense that accuses her of not stopping and giving aid. She was released on her own recognizance after being arraigned early Saturday and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Jan. 19 before District Judge Carolyn S. Bengel.

Davis could not be reached for comment, and she did not have an attorney listed in court records.

Lanae Jackson said she was not happy about how long it took for police to charge Davis.

“We are excited she has been apprehended, but we’re not at the victory,” she said. “Our victory will be when we have justice for what she did to our family.”

Manley said he knows Davis did not mean to hurt his daughter and granddaughter, but he is upset that she did not stop.

“We want justice,” he said. “We don’t want no slap on the wrist.

Knowing that Davis is free, Manley asked that no one bother or threaten her, including on social media.

“Leave her alone, please,” he said.