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This Richmond girl was killed 2 years ago. How her mother is channeling her grief into a mission

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RICHMOND, Va. -- Loved ones held a celebration of life nearly two years after a Richmond girl was hit and killed by a car at a busy intersection.

Aajah Rosemond would have celebrated her 18th birthday Sunday.

A police report from the incident in October 2020 detailed a crash between two cars at the intersection of Jahnke and German School roads on Richmond's Southside. One car crashed into Rosemond as she walked along the sidewalk on Jahnke Road.

Khrystal Bethea, Rosemond's mother, said her daughter was headed to a store nearby when she was hit. The 16-year-old died at the scene.

In the wake of the loss, Bethea has been channeling her grief into a mission of preventing pedestrian deaths and advocating for stricter reckless driving laws.

"The goal is for legislation to be changed and make it where if you drive and you cause an accident, that your driving license is suspended pending the outcome of the investigation," Bethea said. "You should not be able to just drive away after you hit one somebody down and kill them."

Rosemond's family urged drivers to slow down and focus on the road.

RELATED: Walk retraces last steps of Richmond girl killed: 'We need change'

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