Arrest pending in death of RR girl

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) - Round Rock Police are set to arrest a second driver in the last week’s collision that claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl. Investigators said a Pflugerville woman is cooperating, arranging to surrender to authorities Tuesday morning.

Shaylah Dame, a C.D. Fulkes sixth-grader, was crossing in the 1800 block of Gattis School Road near the Clay Madsen Recresation Center about 6:50 p.m. Thursday when she was struck. Police said the first driver stopped immediately after the accident to help, but the girl never regained consciousness. She died an hour later at a Round Rock hospital.

“The first driver, the one who stopped, was the one who struck Shaylah first,” explained Jai Stewart, a family friend. “The second driver is obviously the one who struck her the second time and is the one who took off.”

Police plan to release the suspect’s identity and more details about the investigation on Tuesday. The warrant charges the suspect with failing to comply with requirements for an accident involving personal injury or death, a third-degree felony. Bond is set at $75,000.

“I could see the car that had hit her,” said Nicole Palacious, who said she witnessed the accident with her two children. “I could see her lying in the road motionless. My number one concern was for her safety. At the same time, I already knew that it was too late.”

“The first driver stopped and rendered aid, called 911 and in fact found Shaylah’s cell phone and called her mother, letting her know about the accident,” Stewart added.

A group of about 100 gathered at the scene Saturday in honor of Dame, holding up her photo and signs with words of caution and remembrance. Residents are now pushing the city to consider a crosswalk and traffic signal in that area.

Her father, Billy Dame, told KXAN at that time, “My daughter will not die in vain, and we want to make sure that this will not happen again.”

The city of Round Rock is conducting a traffic study of that area this on Tuesday and Wednesday to consider improvements for pedestrian safety. Engineers have conducted studies of the intersection of Gattis School Road and Windy Park Drive as recently as 2005 but found that stretch did not warrant a crosswalk or a traffic signal.

“Hopefully, the community can stand up and demand a safe passage be put in here,” Stewart said.

Funeral services for the girl are set for Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Beck Funeral Home in Pflugerville.

“It makes you very angry and it makes you question why someone would do something like that,” Stewart said. “She (the second driver) just needs to do the right thing tomorrow. She needs to turn herself in, help this family get some closure, and deal with the mistakes she’s made.”