South Carolina Girl, 6, Killed by Truck While Waiting for School Bus with Grandmother

Jerrnia Horne and her grandmother Beatrice Mayson waited every morning for the bus at the same location, authorities noted

A 6-year-old girl died last week after she was hit by a pickup truck while waiting for her school bus with her grandmother.

On Feb. 28, Jerrnia Horne and her grandmother Beatrice Mayson were standing near the Kershaw Camden Highway in Lancaster County, South Carolina, at approximately 6:30 a.m. local time when the incident occurred, according to ABC News.

The two were reportedly waiting in the same location as usual for Horne’s school bus, ABC News affiliate WSOC reported, when a 39-year-old woman driving a pickup truck struck the child as she was still holding her grandmother’s hand.

“We were on the sidewalk. Then, I saw the black truck coming,” Mayson told WSOC. “I tried calling her, ‘Jerrnia! Jerrnia!’ [but] I can’t hear no voice.”

Jerrnia Horne

Emergency responders arrived at the scene to perform CPR on Horne and immediately transported her to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, CBS-affiliate KIRO-TV reported.

Horne was treated for serious injuries and died later that night.

The Lancaster Police Department did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The Lancaster County School District issued a statement, via WSOC, urging the community to “keep the child and all others involved with this accident in your thoughts and prayers.”

The district shared that they would be sending “school personnel to the hospital and additional counselors to Heath Springs Elementary,” where Horne went to school.

“Everything we do as school officials is first and foremost to take care of children and when we see a child get hurt in the community for whatever reason, I think it everybody hurts,” School Safety Director Bryan Vaughn told WSOC. “This is one of the darkest days that you can have as a school employee.”

According to WSOC, the South Carolina Highway Patrol will be conducting an investigation on the incident and authorities have not announced if the driver will face charges.

“I want justice for my baby girl. I want justice for my baby girl. She didn’t deserve this,” Patricia Mayson, Horne’s mother, told WSOC.

Related Articles