HUNTINGTON NEIGHBORHOOD CALLING FOR SPEED ENFORCEMENT

HNN Staff


The neighbors of Ashley McComas say she didn't have to die. The seven-year-old girl was killed after she ran into the street in front of a pickup truck Friday night on Ninth Avenue near 24th Street.

"Now that one of our kids have been killed," said Sheila McCoy, "We don't want it to happen again." The mother of two youngsters said speeders are a major problem in the neighborhood, and that speed contributed to Ashley's tragic death.

She added that neighbors' efforts to slow down drivers are often met with protest, "These cars fly by and we holler at them. The drivers curse at us."

"They run 50 to 60 miles an hour," Larry Basenback said. "We can't stop them."

There is a stop sign at the intersection, but the adults say it isn't enough. They are calling on the City of Huntington to step up enforcement of the speed limit. As a reminder to everyone, including the speeding drivers, a white memorial cross has been erected in Ashley's honor at the accident site. In an incredible showing of generosity in a time of terrible tragedy, the McComas family has given the gift of life, by donating their child's organs so that other children may live. But while their generosity has allowed others to live, the McComas family is depending on your generosity to bury their little girl. They didn't have life insurance for Ashley, so they are accepting donations from the community to bury little Ashley.