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Hi . Thank u so much. Me and my family would love for you to make something
for my sister. We don't want people to forget the one we lost.
Some things I would like for you to put up on your site is that Markita loved
her friends and family. She was a great little sister to have. I miss her
so much.
She had lots of friends and was a good person. She kept me out of trouble.
She was funny and very smart.
She was great.
I miss her.
Fuquana Jimenez
And The Weaver And Jimenez Family |
(New York-WABC, March 9, 2005)
It was one of the more gut-wrenching stories we've done this year. A 10-year-old
girl in Brooklyn, run down and killed by a Sanitation Dept. snow plow during
a storm in late January.
Markita Weaver was playing in a snowdrift by the curb in the Red Hook section,
when she was clipped by a blow as she slid down a snow mound.
The plow kept going; authorities were never able to positively identify the
exact snowplow involved.
Those who saw the story, including those of us on the air at the time, found
it hard to contain their emotions.
Markita Weaver
Pennsylvania State University meteorologist Jeff Warner told Robert McFadden,
the storm had been memorable but hardly a record-breaker for New York City.
"This will be in the top five January snowstorms since 1900," he told the
New York Times correspondent. The blizzard had dumped 17-1/2 inches of snow
on Brooklyn, and for all practical purposes, shut down the mighty city.
City officials had asked residents to stay off the roads and give the snow
plows a chance to clear the streets. It was one of those storms that every
child looks forward too. With traffic all but eliminated, city side streets
became sprawling white playgrounds. It was a temporary reprieve from the
confines of a concrete jungle. Huge mounds of snow left by earlier plows,
had turned the edges of streets into miniature mountain ranges. And mountains
of snow to a child are there for one reason - to be conquered. Such was the
story of Markita Weaver.
A little girl, loved by those who knew here, but otherwise a small face few
would recognize in a crowd. Millions just like her move amongst us daily.
They grow older each day and we only notice those we personally know. They
are one of those hundreds of kids at school functions we might attend. But
we don't give them a second thought, because we weren't there to see them.
One day they will graduate from one of those thousand's of American schools,
and then become one of those faceless driver we might pass in traffic. Their
picture was in the paper the day they announced their engagement, but we
were flipping thru to the sports section and didn't pay attention. We didn't
realize they were standing right behind us in line at an amusement park.
Why should we? There were way too many people to notice during the day, and
we mind our own business. And then one day, they were in the paper again,
but we don't buy the paper to read the obituaries.
You will never meet 11 year old, or 21 year old, or 61 year old Markita Weaver.
Nor will you pass her on the street, or see her in any lines. She will never
grow up and have a little girl's dream job. She will never graduate high
school or attend college. And she will never marry and have children of her
own. Markita Weaver will never have anything of these things that we take
for granted, because she lost her life one cold January afternoon. Markita
is now a loving memory to the few that knew her, a small stone in a cemetery
of hundreds, and the little innocent face that will forever haunt a hit and
run driver.
But one thing Markita did accomplish before she died.
She conquered that mountain of snow!
Rest in peace sweet child. May eternity be more kind to you than we
were.
Deadly Roads - Hit and Run
Accidents |