EDMONTON - When Tracey Whitelock heard a woman's voice screaming for help Wednesday outside her southeast Edmonton townhouse, she dropped everything and ran.
"This woman was running around, screaming, so I ran over there real fast to see what was going on and if I could help," Whitelock said. "And she's just running, screaming.
"And the baby was laying on the sidewalk."
City police say a 16-month-old girl died Wednesday after she was struck by an SUV in the parking lot of a residential complex.
Police were called to the collision near 15th Avenue and 69th Street just after 6 p.m.
The toddler was conscious at the scene, police said.
Whitelock said the girl looked like she was in rough shape before firefighters and EMS arrived at the scene. "The little one, she was just laying there, giving little wee, teeny gasps out of her." Whitelock said.
She added that the little girl's family had moved into the complex only a few months ago.
The young girl was with her mother and had stepped onto a fire lane when an SUV turned in and hit her. According to Whitelock, the man driving the SUV was the girl's grandfather.
"He was trying to get an ambulance and, oh God, he was screaming too," she said. The girl was taken by ground ambulance to hospital, where she died. Her name was not released.
Whitelock said she used to see the young girl playing outside her home, "toddling off to daddy or toddling off to mummy." "I couldn't even sleep last night. It was quite a horrible thing."
Police say grief counselling and care has been provided to the family.
Residents of the condominium complex say they had recently been warned to slow down in the parking lot.
Meanwhile, the police traffic section continues to investigate the cause of the crash. The outcome of that investigation will determine whether charges are warranted against the 52-year-old driver of the SUV.
Police say collisions between pedestrians and vehicles are all too common - happening almost every day. Over the past five years there have been 37 pedestrian fatalities in the city. Most were adults, but five involved individuals under the age of 18.
Constable Tim Eggert with the traffic section says parents need to model safe behaviour for their children, and be more aware of where they are.
"Children are impulsive," Cst. Eggert said. "They see something shiny, they want to go. Parents need to be diligent and make sure they're holding onto their children and know where they are at all times."
This death marks Edmonton's 15th traffic fatality of 2012 and the fifth involving a pedestrian.
With files from Ross Neitz, Global News
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