A memorial with flowers and tributes has been set up in Brampton after a 13-year-old girl was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by an off-duty police officer on Thursday.
Police confirmed Mia Allen died in hospital on Friday. They said the grade 7 student at Sir John A. MacDonald Public School was on her way to a friend’s house that afternoon when she was struck by a vehicle in a residential neighbourhood.
She was airlifted to the Hospital for Sick Children, police said.
The girl’s friends opened a lemonade stand in her honour on Saturday to help raise money for her family to cover funeral costs.
Cheyenne O'Brien, a close friend of the teen, came up with the idea to help the family.
“Her family is probably really sad right now and probably not going to work for a while ‘cause they’re really sad and we wanted to give them money.”
O'Brien, Allen's best friend Hailey Simpson and her sister Rilyn all worked at the lemonade stand together and reflected on how tough the teen's death must be on her family.
“She was beautiful. She was talented. She was smart and really funny,” Simpson said. "They must be having a really tough time right now.”
Peel police said the pickup truck that hit Allen was driven by an off-duty officer on the way to work. The Major Collision Bureau is investigating, but no charges have been laid.
At the scene of the accident, the memorial is growing. Liz Currah, another friend, said, “She was too young. She still had her whole life.”
Others described Allen as a “person you wanted to be around” and someone who “always tried her best to make other people happy and smile.”
Allen’s family and friends have also set up a Go Fund Me campaign to help with funeral costs.
With files from Natalie Johnson
