An East County community is asking for a safer stretch of road after a mother and advocate for children with special needs was killed walking on the sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon.
The victim, Jeannie Mooring, was walking down Arnold Way in Alpine with her sister-in-law Tawni Stammen around 4 p.m. on May 25 when the pair were hit by a car.
"For how close we were to each other, I got unfairly lucky,” Stammen told NBC 7.
Stammen recalled the horrifying moments after the crash, and remembered seeing her sister-in-law moments after she was struck.
"I screamed, looked for her and I saw her standing at the wall. She stood up and fell," Stammen said.
Mooring was taken to the hospital, where she later died. Mooring, the mother of a young boy with autism, advocates for children with special needs.
The driver stopped at the scene.
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Friends told NBC 7 that Mooring was a devoted wife and mother. Her 3-year-old son Colt has autism.
They said Mooring worked with Colt non-stop and recently moved to Alpine so that he could attend a new school.
"It meant he was making a lot of progress with his autism," said Mooring's best friend, Jessica Casillas.
The tragic death reminded Casillas of the importance of family.
"Love your family," Casillas added. "Love your family as hard and as fierce as Jeannie did."
Mooring's friends and family want to raise awareness of the dangers to pedestrians along Arnold Way, in wake of their loved one's death.
They hope the community steps up to put in speed bumps or stop signs.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by the family, and funds will be donated to Mooring's son.
