A hit-and-run driver killed a pedestrian Monday, and the Dallas Police Department (DPD) and the victim’s family are asking for help in finding the person responsible.
Lajuanda Graves was hit by a car around 8:30 p.m., according to police, as she crossed the southbound lanes of North Masters in Pleasant Grove.
DPD detectives said Graves died in the median of the road close to Budtime Lane. The driver did not stop, according to police.
Rodney Walker, Graves’ son, told NBC 5 DFW that she had been planning a birthday party for one of her grandchildren before her death.
“She was a loving mother,” Walker told NBC 5. “She put her kids first, put her grandkids first and that’s what she cared about the most.”
Walker is asking for any information that might help police find the person who hit his mother. He said the police told him that there is not a lot of information to go on at the moment.
Walker added that it is difficult for his children to understand that their grandmother is now gone.
“She was the rock in our family, held everything together so it’s a big void right now,” Walker said to NBC 5.
Dallas is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrians.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Dallas logged the second-highest rate of traffic fatalities nationwide among major cities between the years 2015 and 2019. Dallas registered an average of 14.11 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Some advocates suggest reducing speed could help alleviate some of the problems with traffic fatalities and make the streets safer for pedestrians.
Fort Worth was fourth on the same list, with an average of 10.84 deaths per 100,000.
While the City’s crime analytics dashboard does not track hit-and-run offenses specifically, homicide offenses in general are up more than 4.5% year-over-year in Dallas as of March 1.
The DPD asks that people with information about this incident contact the Dallas Police Vehicle Crimes Unit at (214) 671-0018 or Detective Valtadoros at [email protected].
