Family pleads for driver who hit 2-year-old to come forward

Family and friends at a vigil for a 2-year-old girl gravely injured by a hit-and-run driver in San Bernardino pleaded for the motorist to come forward.

Friends and family at the Tuesday night vigil wrapped balloons around a tree, covering its base with flowers and stuffed animals, including a Minnie Mouse doll for Asianae Thomas, KTLA-TV reported.

A woman held a picture of the smiling toddler wearing a pink headband and barrettes.

“I would just like to clarify that a lot of people are saying my daughter is gone -- she’s not gone,” the girl’s father, father Anton Thomas, told KTLA. “It ain’t gone until God says she’s gone.”

Asianae was scheduled to have an additional brain scan Wednesday morning before doctors could give a final evaluation of her condition, said Lt. Rich Lawhead, spokesman for the San Bernardino Police Department.

Loved ones have been reeling since Sunday’s incident. Asianae was attending a family birthday party in the 2400 block of North Mountain View Avenue when she darted onto the road, for unknown reasons, and the truck hit her.

Moments before, Asianae had been playing in a bounce house, Lawhead said.

Family members told the TV station the driver slowed down and appeared to stop before peeling off. The girl’s grandmother, Charlotte Matheny, hopes the driver will come forward.

“That’s all I ask, justice,” Matheny said during the vigil. “You don’t got to tell us about it, you can go tell the San Bernardino police about it. Just let justice be done for her.”

Lawhead said two detectives are working the case, following up on leads and reviewing video footage from the scene.

“We need the public’s help. We need their assistance,” Lawhead said. “Someone knows something.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Devon Peck at (909) 384-5664.