OAK RIDGE, N.C. — Flowers now sit at the spot where troopers said a driver hit and killed a 14-year-old trick-or-treater on Halloween night.
Investigators said two girls were walking south on Haw River Road when they were hit from behind by an SUV.
Jared Pike lives in Oak Ridge and was trick-or-treating with his son. He said it was dark and as he got close to where the incident happened, he was suddenly stopped by people with flashlights.
He said it was dark, and while at the time he didn't recognize who the person was, he saw a woman performing CPR on 14-year-old Aliyah Thornhill.
"They're like, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, and so I stopped and I looked and there weren't any first responders there yet," said Pike. "It was one of the ladies who stopped me and said hey, we've been performing CPR on this girl for quite some time and it doesn't look good."
Once EMS arrived, they were able to treat one of the girls on the scene. The other teen, identified as Aliyah Thornhill, was taken to the hospital where she died from her injuries.
Pike said it's heartbreaking that a fun Halloween day turned so dark.
"That's the thing when something happens like this on a day like Halloween, it's fun, you're excited, you're dressing up, get my friends together, can't wait, see what my other people dressed up as, and for it to end in this tragedy as a parent, to them I just, I don't know what people can do," said Pike.
Pike said he learned she was a friend of his daughters and the two acted in the play 'Grease' together in the spring.
"I was telling my daughter, who's 14, and she said that she had just received a text from one of her friends, that it was a girl that she was in Grease with," Pike said. "She was in the production with her, they were friends, she said she was so nice, and so funny, she was just stunned."
While Thornhill no longer goes to school in Guilford County, her former Northwest Guilford Middle School Theater Teacher, Jacob Luck, said she was a great dancer, singer and actor.
He said but she was also so much more.
"Bright, I mean she was just bright, she was gifted, she was admitted into the early college at GTCC," said Luck. "She always gave into what we were doing, she constantly gave and gave herself to, not just herself and her studies, but her friends and you could see that in the friendships she developed among the 8th grade class."
Luck said that Aliyah Thornhill was one of 21 students who chartered the Junior Thespian Troop at Northwest Guilford Middle School and that it was NW Middle the first ever in school history.
That troop is internationally known and recognizes and rewards student achievement and celebrates the work of students in all aspects of theatre, performance and production
"I am just so happy her name gets to live here forever on the wall," said Luck.
Luck said the community is hurting.
"Losing a student is almost like losing your own, and for me as her teacher, the last couple years is what we do, we work with people," Luck said. "Guilford County Schools does and excellent job of training us employees to always remember our 'Why' and Lia is one of those reasons I would come to work everyday."
Luck said she was a talent and light that was dimmed too soon.
"We just want to remember her and the confidence and light she gave to all us people," Luck said.
Ian Mabeus lives in the area and has children in the same friend group as the victims.
Before sunrise this morning, he laid dozens of flowers at the crash site.
“Going out to the family. I don't know who you are. This is tragic. We still talk about Noah and I'm sure your family and the impact will be on our minds and in our prayers and in our hearts. I'm just really sorry. It’s awful,” Mabeus said.
3 YEARS SINCE ANOTHER CHILD'S DEATH
The child’s death hits home for this Oak Ridge community.
Three years ago, the community came together for 11-year-old Noah Chambers. He was also hit by an SUV while trunk-or-treating in Oak Ridge, less than a mile away from the crash site.
Mabeus said he hopes something is done.
“There’s no sidewalks and it’s a 45-speed limit. There's no slowing down until you get to 68 but I never really see kids crossing, but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, so something should be done,” he said.
Troopers said the driver involved stayed at the scene. Investigators said they don’t anticipate charges because the teens were walking in the roadway and that this is not a well-lit area at night.