(AP) — An 11-year-old Mississippi girl was killed and her mother injured after being struck by a car that fled the scene, police said.
Leighton Hill was killed Saturday night as she rode her bike down the street in Hattiesburg, The Hattiesburg American reported.
She was pronounced dead at the scene while her mother, Shannon Posey, was taken to a hospital to be treated for her injuries. Posey was walking beside her daughter when the hit-and-run happened.
Leighton had been “enjoying riding her bike and making memories with her mother when someone took her life,” Forrest County School District Superintendent Brian Freeman said. She was a fifth-grade student at one of the district’s schools, Earl Travillion Attendance Center.
The school’s Principal Kristina Pollard said the community is chipping in to help arrange Leighton’s funeral with her grandmother while Posey recovers from her injuries.
As of Monday, Hattiesburg police have not provided a description of the vehicle or identified a suspect in the case.