Community remembers girl struck, killed in crosswalk

Three girls were hit by a car while crossing the street in a crosswalk on Oct. 21, 2011. A year later, families and friends gathered to remember the tragedy that killed one of those girls.
Mia Decker and her two friends were struck by a car a year ago Sunday, and a cross is now placed at the scene to honor her memory.
This has been a tough year for both families involved and the larger community.
"You're still dealing with the devastation. You're still dealing with the tragedy. You're still trying to move on. You're still trying to move forward, and you never really do," Mia's father, Chris Decker, said.
After a long and painful year, Chris Decker has gathered with friends and family to remember his daughter at a place where he says she would have loved to be - El Durado Park.
"If she was here, we probably would have been here from the moment I got up until just before sundown," Chris Decker said.Mia, 6, was on her way to El Durado Park on Oct. 21, 2011, with her friends, sisters 6-year-old Alyssa and 5-year-old Rain Mowery, when a car struck them. One year later, Alyssa still suffers from brain injuries.
"She has some atrophy in her brain. Some areas are shrinking and dying," Alyssa's mother, Christin Mowery, said.
Today at the intersection where it happened, there are flashing lights and a cross button to help pedestrians cross. These improvements were made possible with the help of donations from strangers.
"There were a lot of people who never met Mia or her family, or the Mowery family," Erin Breen of the UNLV Safe Community Partnership Program said.
Since Mia's death, fatal pedestrian deaths have been on the rise across the valley.
"We're already half a dozen above our total for last year," Breen said.
Chris Decker said this just makes his daughter's death all the more painful.
"The fact that it's still happening a year later - it's maddening. It's frustrating. It's infuriating, and it's on both sides. It's not just pedestrians. It's drivers as well," said Chris Decker.
Breen said auto-pedestrian accidents typically increase as we move into the holiday season. That's because more people are drinking and are also more distracted.
Two Tropical Smoothie Cafes will hold a fundraiser for Alyssa on Wednesday to help with surgical procedure costs from her injuries.