Published: November 04, 2009 10:34 am      

Woman hit by car as she walks to bus with child

Several residents along East Comanche Avenue ran out of their homes this morning after they heard a strange noise, followed by screaming.

“I was in the house getting my kid ready for school,” said Shane Kerr, of 1310 E. Comanche Ave.

“I heard a ‘thud,’ and then I heard this little girl screaming.”

When Kerr looked outside, he saw a woman, later identified by police as Tashona Lane, 30, of McAlester, lying in his yard, with her daughter sitting beside her.

Danny Jewell, who also heard the accident, stepped from a nearby residence as well. He and Kerr quickly surmised that Lane had been struck by a car, and Jewell phoned 911.

As city police and an ambulance crew from the McAlester Fire Department rushed to the scene, neighbors and individuals who had been waiting at a nearby bus stop tried to comfort Lane as best they could.

As EMTs Colt Sanders and Larry Edwards arrived at the scene and worked with her before setting her on a gurney, Lane lay on the lawn at 1310 E. Comanche Ave., sobbing.

“Everybody drives so fast through here. Be careful; just be careful,” she cried, shortly before the ambulance crew transported her to the McAlester Regional Health Center.

After conducting an investigation at the site, police said Lane had been walking her daughter to the school bus stop when she had been struck by a car. Her child was not injured, according to police.

Police identified Winfora G. Barnes, 49, of McAlester, as the driver of a 2006 Chrysler that struck Lane.

“According to my only witness, the daughter was next to the curb,” McAlester Police patrolman Loyd London said following the accident. Lane was next to her daughter, with the daughter on the “inside,” closest to the curb, when the car struck Lane, according to statements obtained by police.

As Lane lay on the nearby lawn, Barnes had stood near the crumpled right fender of the car she had driven.

“Sir, I didn’t see her,” she said to London. “I didn’t see her,” Barnes said before breaking into tears.

Neil Farrell, one of those who tried to comfort Lane immediately after the accident, said he’d been waiting with his daughter at a nearby bus stop when he saw the accident occur.

He said he saw the car heading toward Lane, who was near the edge of the street.

“I thought to myself that car ought to be moving over,” Farrell said. Before he could shout a warning, he saw the car strike Lane, Farrell said.

“When it hit her, she went over the top and landed in the yard,” he said.

“It was terrible,” Farrell said. “Her daughter started screaming and my daughter was screaming.”

Several people who lived along East Comanche complained about speeding drivers on the street. They did not witness the accident this morning and they did not accuse the driver involved in it of driving too fast.

Several drivers who drove up to the scene heading east on Comanche Avenue following the accident this morning said they had been temporarily blinded by the sun as it rose over the top of a nearby hill.

Jewell and Kerr, referring to other drivers along the street, said many of them drive too fast down East Comanche Avenue. Jewell said he’s even stood in the driveway and yelled at some of them to slow down as they went whizzing by on the street, which has a 30 mph speed limit.

“Do they care? No.”

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.