Walk to school turns deadly for 7-year-old

Cameron Dunmore headed off to school early Monday to start his day in the gifted program at Princeton Elementary School in south DeKalb County.

His older sister had seen the 7-year-old second-grader to the corner in front of the school on South DeShon Road. That’s when it happened —- a parent’s worst nightmare.

Police say as Cameron crossed the street at the school crosswalk at 7:30 a.m., he was struck by a sport utility vehicle that did not stop.

A crossing guard was on duty and had carried a stop sign into the street, and other vehicles had stopped, police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.

“But for reasons unknown, the SUV driver did not stop,” Parish said.

Cameron was pronounced dead on the way to a hospital. The driver, Shirley Ogilvie, 40, was taken to a hospital after appearing distraught over the accident. Parish said Ogilvie would be charged with vehicular homicide.

The boy’s grandmother, Linda Smith, said there was a traffic light in front of the school, south of Stone Mountain, when it opened in August 2007, but the light was removed shortly thereafter. She said her grandson would still be alive if the light had not been removed.

“It’s such a busy street,” she said. “We told them they need it, but they said we didn’t.

“They’re going to put a light there now,” she said. “I know it.”

She doesn’t blame the driver for her grandson’s death.

“I know that lady wasn’t meaning to do it,” Smith said. “It’s a moment you can’t get back.”

Cameron walked a block and a half to school each day. His older sister had seen him to the corner near where the accident occurred, Smith said.

“She had turned her back just before he was hit,” Smith said. “When she heard about what happened, she knew it was Cameron because he had just left her.”

Neighbors say they urged DeKalb County officials to put a traffic light at the school crosswalk. Resident Regina Hill said neighbors got together and signed a letter appealing for a traffic light at the intersection. Hill said she personally delivered the letter to the county government headquarters building in Decatur.

Princeton Elementary Principal Juanita B. Letcher said through a spokesman that a parent spoke with her last school year about safety concerns at the intersection, and that Letcher herself also had concerns “about traffic in the area,” said DeKalb schools spokesman Dale Davis.

Letcher said she contacted county officials about her concerns. She said county personnel did an assessment —- although no traffic light was installed.

County officials did not respond to questions Monday about whether they received complaints about the intersection or had plans to install a traffic light there. County spokeswoman Kristie Swink issued a statement from Chief Executive Officer Burrell Ellis.

“As a father, I am particularly pained by this tragedy,” Ellis said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dunmore family.”

When school ended Monday afternoon, a DeKalb County police officer with a radar gun was just north of the school stopping cars for speeding.

Road signs warn drivers they are approaching the school crosswalk. Ogilvie’s car was southbound. Drivers coming from the north pass a flashing school zone sign on a roadside post and a sign warning, “Stop for pedestrians in crosswalk” before traveling over a small hill just north of the school.

Within yards of the crosswalk, two more signs show pedestrian icons, one with an arrow pointing to the crosswalk.

Efrain Cordova Jr., who lives next door to the school, said the hill is a problem for inattentive drivers.

“Right here, there’s a lot of people who don’t obey the speeding limit,” he said, motioning to the downhill grade. “When you come over that hill, it’s very hard to see.”

He said a neighbor was struck by a car in his front yard as he cut the grass, and Cordova saw another vehicle jump the curb on the opposite side of the street and careen into a yard.

Parish said DeKalb had not had a school crosswalk fatality until Cameron’s death Monday.

Cameron’s grandmother described the boy, who was in the gifted program at Princeton Elementary, as inquisitive and kind-hearted.

“He was always very calming,” Smith said. “He always had something good to say.”

He most enjoyed going to Barnes & Noble with his mother, who also lives with Smith.

“She’d have her coffee and he’d start reading,” she said. “He loved to read.”

Staff writers April Hunt, Kristina Torres and Ty Tagami contributed to this article.

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