11-Year-Old Atlanta Boy Dies After Being Hit by Car While Trick-or-Treating

An 11-year-old boy in Atlanta has passed away after he was hit by a car on Halloween while trick-or-treating.

In a press release from the Atlanta Police Department issued Sunday, officers responded to the 2700 block of Memorial Drive on a report of a pedestrian hit by a vehicle around 8:20 p.m. that night.

At the scene, authorities discovered that a boy, later identified by family as Devonne “DJ” David, was the one hit. The child was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Based on their preliminary investigation, officials say DJ had been standing on the sidewalk with several other children, celebrating Halloween. When DJ walked into the roadway to cross the street, he was struck by the vehicle.

Authorities say the driver stayed at the scene and is not expected to face charges.

In an interview with WSB-TV, Wesley Fulton, who lives across from where the event occurred, said he saw DJ dart across the street.

“As soon as he got hit, I screamed a little bit and ran out in the street to grab him and see if he was OK,” Fulton said. “We were talking to him like, “Come on, you got this. You’re going to be all right.’”

Fulton said he and his sister held the boy’s hand, put a blanket over him, and prayed over his injuries. Fulton also said he told the other children with DJ that they could go inside his house to keep warm.

While speaking to WXIA, residents in the area say this isn’t the first accident they have witnessed.

“The 22 years that I’ve been in the house, I’ve seen some horrific accidents. Head-ons and everything in between,” resident Traci Morgan said.

Former neighborhood association president Doug Williams also told the outlet that the community has been trying to rectify speed issues on the street for years.

“It’s heartbreaking. For those of us that have been working to slow down Memorial — this is what we’ve been afraid of all along,” Williams said.

On Monday, DJ’s aunt Yanna created a GoFundMe to raise funds for his funeral. Yanna also said any outstanding amounts will go to DJ’s mom.

“We appreciate any and all contributions, with any remaining funds going to an account for his mom,” Yanna wrote. “We ALL thank you for all of your love and support right now. It means so much to all of us. We will continue to keep you as updated as we can while trying to process this all ourselves. We WILL pull through this.”

As of this writing, the page has raised over $12K — surpassing its $10K goal.