5 days ago
Girl, 11, victim of hit-and-run speaks out: 'I can't believe somebody would just leave me on the street'
The Brief
A young girl has broken bones and missing teeth from a hit-and-run.
The family says police are looking for a black Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows.
The incident happened Wednesday afternoon after school.
PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia family is shaken after their 11-year-old was hit by a car in Juniata Park and the driver kept going. The young girl lost three teeth and suffered broken bones in her face.
What we know
Police say it happened Wednesday just after 4 p.m.
Nylah Johnson Riley recalls crossing the street from near Dunkin to catch the number three bus waiting for her on the other side. It happened in the area of Kensington Avenue, Torresdale and Erie.
She says a car she did not initially see came from around the bus and hit her.
The family says police tell them they are looking for a black Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows and that a SEPTA bus camera may have captured the license plate.
What they're saying
"I just can't believe that," cried 11-year-old Nylah Johnson-Riley. "I can't believe somebody would just do that to me and just leave me on the street like that," she cried talking about a driver who hit her and kept going.
"I couldn't believe that happened to me. Yesterday was the most scariest day of my life," she said from her home after doctors discharged her from St. Christopher's Hospital for Children Thursday evening.
"My swelling is going down now and my bruises, like my arm, is still hurting," she said.
Nylah's mother and grandmother are equally devastated over what happened.
"She told my mom she thought she was dead. Knowing that she was experiencing that and you were just evil enough to leave her in the street," cried her mother, Jabria Johnson.
"My heart dropped. My heart dropped," cried her grandmother Desiree Riley. "Just left her. How do you hit a kid and just leave her? She was so scared."
Traumatic injuries
Nylah lost three front teeth, has multiple broken bones on her face and nose and a bruised arm bone. Next Wednesday she will have the first of many surgeries to come.
"You can't say you didn't see her when she flew. Look at my baby's face. She gotta experience this and look at herself," said her mother.
"I wanted to speak today so that I could show awareness and so people could find the person that did this to me," said Nylah.
The Source
Information for this article was provided by the Philadelphia Police Department and the victim's family.
