ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Family and friends have identified the woman struck and killed by a car Thursday as 22-year-old Ella Stanford.
"I could walk down the street and people would stop and look at Ella," said Stanford's grandmother Charlene Stanford.
At 6 feet 2 inches, Ella Stanford was hard to miss. Her tall stature was only part of her charm.
"Very energetic, always laughing, full of life. She loved everybody."
On Thursday around 2 a.m., Stanford's life was cut short.
A car struck her near the intersection of Chambers Road and Bon Oak Drive in St. Louis County.
The driver stayed, but Stanford died at the scene.
"Next thing I know, two white officers came to my house and told me she was deceased. That she was hit by a car," Charlene Stanford said.
She said her grandson spoke with that driver, who told him she was trying to drive around Ella but couldn't.
"She didn't know she had hit her until she passed.. evidently she rolled over her because she felt the bump and she looked back and Ella was laying on the ground."
She said it's unclear why Stanford was in the middle of the street.
Stanford's big brother Stephon Jefferson said he's finding comfort in her death being an accident.
"I can't live with her being gone, but by it being an accident from a car, it's a little, woof," Jefferson said. "Ain't nobody really killed her, stabbed her, she got shot, like that. She got hit by a car."
This grieving grandmother is now hoping the driver of that car reaches out to her personally.
"I know she wasn't trying to hit Ella. Oh yes, I forgive her," she said. "And I would just like for her to tell me the last thing she saw and that would really give me some closure."
This incident is still under investigation by the county's bureau of crimes against persons.
Police said at this point it appears to have been an accident. However, anyone with information is asked to call the St. Louis County Police Department at 636-529-8210.
Family and friends held a vigil for Ella on Friday night.
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