A 3-year-old girl died Tuesday night after running into the path of a vehicle in the parking lot of Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux in Carencro, police said, as bystanders shouted and honked a horn trying to warn the driver before the collision. The child, identified by local reports as Ka'Mya J'Nae, was pronounced dead a short time after arriving at the hospital, according to Carencro Police Chief David Anderson.
The crash happened around 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, after an event at the restaurant had wrapped up, as reported by Acadiana News First. Police said the child ran into the parking lot and into the path of a vehicle, according to WAFB. The driver was a woman who had her husband in the passenger seat and her own small children in the back seat, the station reported.
Several people in another vehicle tried to alert the driver by hollering and blowing a horn, but the warning came too late, per the same account. Anderson said the driver could not see the child because of how small she was. Ka'Mya J'Nae was the daughter of Courtney Williams, who works at the recently opened Carencro restaurant, according to KPEL.
Police Say No Wrongdoing Identified So Far
Investigators ruled out alcohol as a factor in the crash, Carencro police said, and the investigation remains ongoing, per KLFY. Police said they do not see any wrongdoing at this time, though the case has not been closed. Anderson said the child's death has deeply affected the community and urged parents to keep close watch over their children's whereabouts and to have them wear reflective clothing outdoors after dark, especially with Halloween approaching that weekend.
Walk-On's described the child as a member of its restaurant team's family and announced Wednesday that it would close the Carencro location for the day. Restaurant leadership said in a statement that they were closing to care for their team, according to kpel965.com. The closure came as the restaurant and the surrounding community began grappling with the loss.
Community Rallies Around Grieving Mother
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been established to help support Williams and her family following her daughter's death, kpel965.com reported. The outpouring reflects how closely tied the restaurant staff and its patrons have become in the small Lafayette Parish community since the location's recent opening.
The tragedy also lands amid broader concerns about traffic safety for children and pedestrians statewide. Louisiana pedestrian deaths have outnumbered passenger deaths over the last decade, according to the state Department of Transportation and Development, and nearly 80% of pedestrian fatalities in Louisiana occur at nighttime or in dark conditions, per KPLC. It remains unclear whether this parking-lot crash would be classified among those statistics, but the numbers underscore the risks Anderson referenced in urging parents toward added caution after dark.
