Mother grieves for 3-year-old killed crossing street with grandmother

The mother of the 3-year-old girl who died Tuesday after she and her grandmother were hit by a vehicle talked to Channel 2 Action News about the devastating event.

"Things happen for a reason, but that thing shouldn't have happened," Telisa Thrower said Wednesday.

Kelseyana Thrower was riding on the back of her grandmother Wendy's motorized wheelchair -- and they were crossing the street outside of a crosswalk -- when a Jeep Cherokee hit both of them, DeKalb police said.

The incident happened on Covington Highway at Paul Edwin Drive. Family and friends gathered near the site of the incident Wednesday night, Channel 2 said.

Kelseyana was given CPR at the scene Tuesday and transported by ambulance to a local hospital, but did not survive, police said. Wendy Thrower was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital with serious injuries.

"It hurts to lose a child at a young age. I'm only 22," Telisa Thrower said.

She also told Channel 2 that her mother has not yet been told about Kelseyana's death.