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<\/p>\nPHILADELPHIA – The family of Talyia Nesmith gathered on Friday for a balloon release in her memory after she was killed in a hit-and-run, according to Philadelphia Police. The search for the driver continues as police ask for the public\u2019s help.<\/p>\n
Family and friends gather to remember Talyia Nesmith <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Police say a driver hit Talyia around 3:30 Monday morning after she got out of a Lyft ride and was crossing the street. That driver kept going. Police say Tuesday they found the Dodge Hellcat in Delaware County.<\/p>\n
A crowd packed the 7200 block of Elmwood Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, the spot where Talyia lost her life, to honor her with blue and white balloons.<\/p>\n
What they’re saying:<\/p>\n
“We are looking for Talyia’s killer,” said her cousin Erica Butts who spoke to family and friends who packed the 7200 block of Elmwood Avenue in Southwest Philly. It is where the beautiful young lady\u2019s life was taken in a hit-and-run.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We going up for Talyia! Talyia we love you!” said the crowd as they released blue and white balloons.<\/p>\n
“Talyia was loved,” said another family member. Her mother Kisha Smith was too heartbroken to come. But Talyia’s younger sister spoke about their loss.<\/p>\n
“Me, my mom and my sister were so close. We are literally best friends. My mom has a great relationship with her children and for her to lose her first best friend, it shook her world,” said her younger sister Mikyia Thomas about her mother\u2019s suffering.<\/p>\n
The family is still in disbelief that the driver did not stop after hitting Talyia.<\/p>\n
“Just please slow down. There is literally no reason to speed. If the speed limit is 50 you should not be doing eighty and if you have an accident, stop,” said her sister and a cousin.<\/p>\n
The family shared that Talyia was preparing for a new chapter in her life.<\/p>\n
“She was getting ready for nursing school. She wanted to change her career up and she was thinking about moving, going to Houston, and starting school out there,” said her cousin Jiciana Knight.<\/p>\n
The family calls for public help and prayers <\/p>\n
What you can do:<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The family is asking for the public\u2019s help to find the person responsible for Talyia\u2019s death and to support her loved ones.<\/p>\n
“Especially keep her mom and her sister in prayer. If you know anything, heard anything or were out here when anything happened do not hesitate to say something. We are keeping our foot on their necks. We are not just letting this go,” said Butts.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Police have provided a tip hotline for anyone with information: 267-686-TIPS (8477).<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s grief and determination to seek justice have brought the community together in support.<\/p>\n
What we don’t know:<\/p>\n
Police have not identified the driver and have not announced any arrests in the case.<\/p>\n
The Source: Information from Philadelphia Police.<\/p>\n
Crime & Public Safety<\/a>News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA – The family of Talyia Nesmith gathered on Friday for a balloon release in her memory after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[592,139,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-256888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}