ST. LOUIS — Police are looking for the drivers who hit two pedestrians in separate incidents this weekend, one in St. Louis City and another in St. Louis County.
A man who has not yet been identified was hit by a car Saturday morning on Natural Bridge Avenue and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Hours earlier, Julisa Cannon was walking Friday night on Meramec Station Road when she was hit and killed.
Cannon’s family said she was walking home from work at Dairy Queen when she was hit and killed at Meramec Station and Crescent roads in St. Louis County.
“She was trying to get home to her five kids just make a decent living and be a decent citizen,” Cannon’s aunt Nickey Joshua said. "And for somebody to just take her life, hit her and keep going like that, I don't know how you can go to sleep at night. And, you get to go home with your loved ones, and she's gone for no reason."
Cannon’s cousin Natalie Dixon said everyone called her Lisa for short. She was funny, caring and had a big heart.
“I love her to death, and I know she loved me," Dixon said. "So while your family is here love them. Love on them, and that's just not a saying, tomorrow you could be gone."
They released balloons in her honor Sunday night.
St. Louis County Police said the driver who hit Cannon did not stay at the scene until help arrived, and police are still searching for them.
“I'm calling detectives every day until I get an answer. Are there cameras on that corner? Did anybody see anything? I'm calling every day until I get an answer. This is not gonna go unnoticed,” Joshua said.
Saturday morning in St. Louis, police said a man was hit crossing Natural Bridge Avenue near Belt Avenue by a white Hyundai SUV that also left the scene.
“If I'm out at 4:30 in the morning, if I'm going to my job, doing whatever, I should be able to cross the street safely, to some degree, regardless of where I want to cross the street,” Trailnet Policy Catalyst Charles Bryson said.
5 On Your Side observed the area specifically at the crosswalk near the intersection. While our cameras were there for 30 minutes, not once did the light turn red nor did the walk sign turn on, even after pressing the cross button.
“The street is way too wide. It is way too fast. And yet, we have to wait for another year for this transportation and mobility plan, when obviously what St Louis County did, and if you drive from here to St Louis County, you'll see the improvements that they made around traffic calming, but you don't see it in the city,” Bryson said.
Bryson said on the same road near the University of Missouri-St. Louis, there are various traffic calming measures including bump-outs, roundabouts, medians and protected crosswalks.
If you know anything about either incident, you're asked to call the police.
There is a GoFundMe campaign for Cannon's family, you can click here if you’d like to help.
Resources for crime victims
If you have been a victim of a crime or know someone who has been, 5 On Your Side has compiled a list of resources.
The Crime Victim Center of St. Louis has multiple programs to support victims of crime. Crime Victim Center’s programs range from direct services to crime victims as well as “creating awareness and change within the systems they encounter.”
Life Outside of Violence "helps those harmed by stabbing, gunshot or assault receive the treatment, support and resources they need to find alternatives to end the cycle of violence."
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has the Neighborhood Healing Network, which serves people who have experienced crime, violence or been the victim of an incident that caused trauma.
The Bullet Related Injury Clinic (BRIC) is a community-based clinic in St. Louis that helps people heal after they have been injured by a bullet. The BRIC was established to help people who are discharged from the emergency department after being shot.