Mia Lily Keogh O’Keeffe is the seventh person to have been killed on the road on the island of Ireland over the course of the weekend
The mother of a teenager killed by a car which failed to remain at the scene has said her “heart will never be the same again.”
This paper has learned that the tragic teenager killed in a hit-and-run on the Slane Road in Navan, Co Meath on Saturday night was 16 year old Mia Lily Keogh O’Keeffe.
She is the seventh person to have been killed on the road on the island of Ireland over the course of the weekend.
Mia, who was from Navan, was walking her dog and was at a pedestrian crossing when a driver struck her with his vehicle and then failed to remain at the scene at around 8:20pm.
Gardai and emergency services rushed to the area and Mia was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth, where she was subsequently declared dead.
It is understood Mia was a student at Loreto Secondary School in Navan, has a number of siblings and comes from a well known family in the area.
Gardai were initially searching for the driver, but it is understood that the suspect, who is a man in his 20s, later handed himself in to gardai. He was then placed under arrest and is being questioned over the incident.
It comes as Mia’s devastated mother Louise has taken to social media and posted in a comment:
“My beautiful baby was taken by someone who fled and left her alone. My heart will never be the same again.”
In a statement gardai have appealed for witnesses to the incident to come forward.
“At approximately 8:20pm, Gardaí and emergency services responded to an incident involving a car and a pedestrian. The car involved failed to remain at the scene. The pedestrian, a 16-year-old female, was treated at the scene before being transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, where she was later pronounced deceased.
“A male in his 20s has since been arrested in connection with the investigation and a car has been seized for technical and forensic examination. He is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda Station in the Eastern Region,” gardai said.
Gardai added that the Coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged.
“The scene remains preserved for examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and local traffic diversions are in place.”
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision to come forward. Road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were travelling in the area between 8:00pm and 8:45pm are asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Navan Garda Station on 046 9036100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
The crash comes amid a weekend of carnage on Irish roads that saw six other people killed in separate incidents on the island of Ireland.
A woman, aged in her 80s, died in a single-vehicle collision in Rooaun, Eyrecourt, Co Galway at around 8.15pm on Saturday evening. The elderly woman was the driver and sole occupant of the car and was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a separate incident, two people died in a crash involving a van and a car at around 12pm on the Tramore Road R675 at Robin Hill in Tramore, Co Waterford. A man and a woman, both aged in their 40s, who were the occupants of the car, were pronounced dead at the scene.
The occupants of the van, a man aged in his 50s and a juvenile male, were taken to University Hospital Waterford for treatment of non life-threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, a further three people died in a road crash in Armagh, with four more people injured in the incident. The victims, two men aged 31 and 48 and a woman, 23, died at the scene of the accident outside the Moy on Saturday night.
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