The Charlottesville Police Department has concluded an investigation into the October 3 death of a woman as she was crossing Elliott Avenue at South First Street.
“The investigation revealed that at approximately 7:30 PM, Mamawa Simai was walking northbound in a crosswalk marked only with zebra stripes,” reads the release sent out today at 3:07 p.m. “The area was poorly lit and had no signage or flashing lights indicating a pedestrian crossing.”
Police have charged 19-year-old Matthew Christian Kozub of Louisa County for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, a misdemeanor. Kozub remained at the scene and cooperated, but was arrested on other charges for other warrants against him. For more on that aspect of the story, take a look at Hawes Spencer’s story in the Charlottesville Daily Progress.
Simai died from her injuries soon after being transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center.
Since her death, City Manager Sam Sanders has announced he has directed staff to study the possibility of dropping the speed limit to 25 miles per hour city-wide. City crews have also installed some traffic-calming measures, but a petition has been circulated demanding the city install a second one at Elliott Avenue and 2nd Street.
“This is a highly trafficked legal crossing with no markers to protect civilians from oncoming traffic,” reads the petition. “Elliott Avenue is wide and straight with a steep hill that encourages people to accelerate — and they do!”
Charlottesville City Council will get an update Monday afternoon on projects funded through the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Before you go: This is a story published first to this website because the information came in one minute after the publication of today’s Charlottesville Community Engagement. It will be included in the next version. To support the work, check out the tab at the top of the screen.
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