Family, friends remember 7-year-old killed in hit-and-run at bus stop

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Seven-year-old Sevion Sanford was killed early Friday morning as he waited for the bus stop on East 21st Street off Post Road.

Sanford’s mother Shanique Beasley said during a balloon release Sunday afternoon with family and friends, “My baby loved sports. He was a true fighter. To know him is to love him.”

According to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Sevion was hit by a light-colored sedan that left the scene. A second car struck and killed the Lakeside Elementary student, and that car’s driver stayed and talked to police.

“If he (the first car’s driver) would have stopped, that second car would have known something was happening right here and he wouldn’t have got hit twice,” Beasley said.

Beasley and her family are using their faith in God to get through this tragedy.

“We’re just asking for prayer, and we’re asking that the person who hit him first turn themselves in,” said Sevion’s cousin, Sheila Springfield.

She’s also hurting for Sevion’s classmates and friends. Many of them were at the bus stop and saw the accident.

Springfield said, “I ask that people slow down and especially slow down around bus stops and where children are. They need to slow down because this probably could have been prevented.”

People living at the Warren Harbor Apartments where Sevion lived say more traffic signs are needed to warn drivers of the bus stop near the apartment complex.

The elementary school in the Warren Township district has brought in counselors to help students, staff and families deal with the boy’s death.