Emergency personnel are at the scene of an accident involving a minivan and a pedestrian at Southeast 82nd Avenue and NE 289th Street north of Battle Ground. (Clark County Fire & Rescue)Photo Gallery
BATTLE GROUND — The family of an 11-year-old girl is reeling after she was struck and killed by a van north of Daybreak Park on Wednesday morning.
Anthony Smith, 44, said that the day started like any other — his two daughters, 11-year-old Elizabeth and 10-year-old Cera, walked the 1,500 feet from their house to wait for the school bus near Northeast 82nd Avenue in the Battle Ground area.
The girls were a grade apart at Daybreak Primary/Middle School, and Elizabeth loved tormenting her little sister, Smith said.
“She was playing,” Smith said. “She was jumping around, and she went out into the road a little bit.”
That’s when a silver minivan traveling south on 82nd Avenue struck Elizabeth, sending her down into a ditch, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
Cera ran back home to get her dad. When he got to the scene, Smith said, first responders were using a backboard to pull his little girl out of the ditch. They did CPR on her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I’ve never seen so much blood,” Smith said, choking back tears.
The minivan’s driver — Dennis Gene Lemke, 76, of La Center — is cooperating with the investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office said Lemke stopped at the scene, but moved his van about a mile down the road after emergency personnel asked him to get it out of the way. Investigators do not think Lemke was attempting to flee the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
“There was some confusion as to where the child was,” sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Neiman said. “At this point they’re not looking at it as a hit-and-run situation.”
The sheriff’s office said Lemke submitted to a blood draw, and nothing indicated that excessive speed or driver impairment factored into the collision. Foggy conditions may have been a contributing factor in the crash, Neiman said.
Three years ago, a serious-injury crash occurred along the exact same stretch of road. In June 2013, then 16-year-old Justin Carey was near the same intersection waiting for a school bus when deputies say a southbound vehicle driven by Shaun Johnson veered off the road and struck the boy. Johnson was convicted of vehicular assault, but her conviction was overturned. She is awaiting a new trial.
Smith, whose son is good friends with Carey, said he is angry that this has happened twice now — but this time, the crash was fatal.
“They need to put some kind of warning that there are kids there, flashing lights or something,” Smith said.
In the meantime, Smith said, he and his family are working through their grief.
His daughter was full of life and not scared to be herself, he said.
“She didn’t mind telling anyone what she was thinking,” he said. “She was sassy.”
Elizabeth loved to sing, but also liked to help people, her dad said. At 11, she hadn’t yet decided if she wanted to be a singer or a doctor.
“She had so many dreams that she’ll never get to try now,” he said. “She touched a lot of hearts. She’s going to be missed really bad.”
Well-wishers have started an online fundraising campaign through YouCaring.com under “Little Elizabeth Smith’s funeral costs” to help pay for the girl’s funeral services. The effort had raised $775 as of Wednesday night.
Staff writer Andy Matarrese contributed to this report.
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