Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Emotions run high at vigil for NLV girl, 2, killed in hit-and-run

Candles

Chris Kudialis

Candles are shown at a vigil Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, for 2-year-old Evelyn Green, who was killed a day earlier by a hit-and-run driver in North Las Vegas.

NLV Hit-and-Run Kills 2-Year-Old

North Las Vegas Police officers and crime scene analysts confer after a fatal hit and run accident at the 3400 block of Thomas Avenue in North Las Vegas Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016. A two-year-old girl was killed in the accident. Launch slideshow »

A candlelight vigil for a toddler killed Sunday in a hit-and-run crash turned confrontational Monday night, prompting a visit from North Las Vegas Police.

Vicki Green, the mother of 2-year-old Evelyn Green, and Josh Green, the child's father, began Monday's 6:30 p.m. vigil arguing aloud over who was at fault in the child's death.

The argument escalated, and within 10 minutes, four North Las Vegas patrol cars arrived.

"Let's take care of each other right now, we don't need any more senseless violence," a responding North Las Vegas officer said before a crowd of nearly 100 people, including family, neighbors and members of the North Las Vegas community. A dozen candles and balloons were placed on the sidewalk in memory of Evelyn.

"This is a sign we all need to get our lives together," said Ricky Green, Evelyn's grandfather and a local Christian minister. He read a verse from 2 Corinthians after police left, even as his daughter Vicki Green continued to shout obscenities.

Onlookers said news of both Sunday's incident, in which police said Evelyn Green was struck while walking in the street by a white-paneled van, and the events of Monday's vigil were unusual for a neighborhood with "many families and kids."

"This is a very family-concentrated area with people who look out for each other," said Diego Mara, a 15-year North Las Vegas resident, in his native Spanish. "To hear about and see all of this is very sad."

Others expressed their condolences for the couple, excusing them for their emotions in the wake of their child's death.

"When you lose a child, you don't always know how to handle it," said Erika Green, Josh Green's sister-in-law.

Josh Green told members of the media he was in a bus on his way to work when he heard news of his daughter's death. Vicki Green said she was inside a home on the 3400 block of Thomas Avenue, near Pecos Road and Lake Mead Boulevard, for a Super Bowl party when the child was hit by the van.

Residents of the neighborhood said cars often speed through the 25 mph zone at 50 mph.

"It's tragic for everyone involved," Mara said in Spanish. "If we had speed bumps here, we probably wouldn't have this problem or this death."

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