TTC bus hit and run kills girl, 14
Scarborough teen dies only steps from home; driver turns himself in but police haven’t laid charges
Crystal Diljohn was supposed to take her daughter, Amaria, Christmas shopping Saturday. Instead, she’s planning her funeral.
The 14-year-old Scarborough girl was killed Friday evening after she was hit by a TTC bus. Toronto police are calling it a hit and run. The driver, a 27-year-old male, has since turned himself in. He has not been charged.
Speaking from her mother’s home Saturday evening, Diljohn, 32, said she was devastated her only child, affectionately dubbed Momo, died just steps from home.
“My child is not trash. How could you hit her and leave her?” she said. “I’m angry that’s how she died — alone on the ground.”
Police were called to Finch Ave. and Neilson Rd. around 5:30 p.m. Friday where they found Amaria without vital signs. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Amaria was trying to cross Neilson Rd. from east to west when she was hit, according to police.
At the time, the133 Neilson bus had been driving north on Neilson Rd. and was making a right turn on Finch Ave. East.
The bus failed to remain at the scene of the crash.
Diljohn described her daughter as fearless, ambitious and “very girly.”
“Hair, makeup, nails — her outfit had to be on point,” she said. A freshman at Woburn Collegiate Institute, Amaria was involved in many extracurricular activities, including band, volleyball and track.
Diljohn said her aspirations over the years varied widely, from becoming a teacher, to becoming the next Beyoncé, but she always set her goals high.
“Once she put her mind to it, she did it.” The mother and daughter, who lived alone, were incredibly close. Most nights, Diljohn said Amaria would sneak into her bed to cuddle and sleep.
Diljohn said she laid awake in that bed all night Friday, her hands occasionally reaching out to touch the spot normally occupied by her daughter.
“I died with her,” she said, her voice hollow. “That was my best friend. My world.”
When Amaria, who had gone to the mall after school, didn’t show up at home Friday evening, Diljohn began making increasingly frantic phone calls to her daughter’s cellphone. Eventually, a Toronto police officer answered and a pair of detectives later delivered the news.
“I can’t believe it,” said Diljohn, who identified her daughter at the coroner’s office Saturday.
“I just wanted to pick her up and take her home.”
Friends have set up a memorial page on Facebook for Amaria and are planning a vigil 5 p.m. Sunday at the Neilson Rd. and Finch Ave. intersection.
Police are looking for eyewitnesses and passengers who were on the bus between 5:15 and 6 p.m.
In a statement issued Saturday afternoon, the TTC said it is co-operating fully with the investigation and that video from the bus has been submitted to police.
“The operator of the bus has also been identified and is being interviewed by police.”
The Toronto Transit Union, Amalgamated Transit Workers Local 113, also released a statement expressing condolences.
“We are shocked and devastated by this grievous tragedy and our hearts go out as one to this young girl’s family and friends. No words can express the depth of our sadness for those who knew and loved her and no circumstances surrounding what happened can lessen their overwhelming sorrow,” it said.
“Our 10,000 members are of many faiths and each of us extends our personal prayer that her loved ones will be given the immeasurable strength and courage that will be needed to carry on in the face of this profound loss.”
This incident is the latest in a string of collisions involving the TTC over the last few years.
According Star report in July, TTC vehicles have been involved in18,000 collisions since 2009. Nearly 5,000 of those were deemed preventable by transit commission investigators.
The database obtained by the Star, which only includes number up to 2013, shows an average of 3,564 collisions a year.
In the last few months alone, the Star has reported on a number of collisions involving serious to fatal injuries.
The most recent incidents involved a woman who was struck by a TTC bus on Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. Tuesday afternoon and another female pedestrian who was pinned underneath a TTC bus near York University earlier in December.
The latter suffered “multi-system-trauma,” according to city paramedics.
In September, two people died of injuries caused by St. Clair Ave. streetcars. The first was a woman who got stuck under the streetcar near Keele St. and the second was a 79year-old man who was hit near Yonge St.
Brad Ross, head of communications for the TTC, said the TTC investigates each one of “these tragedies” thoroughly.
“Safety is, and always will be, the number one priority for the TTC,” Ross told the Star.
“The entire TTC family is shaken by this. We take pride in being able to deliver a safe transit system to the people of Toronto and we will continue to do that.” With files from Eric Andrew-Gee