9-year-old killed in Mayfair area collision 'had a right to be walking safe here,' grieving mother says

Teddy bears and messages reading "justice for Baeleigh" hang from a fence in Saskatoon's Mayfair neighbourhood.

Rochelle Dubois keeps visiting the spot on 33rd Street, watching over the place where her nine-year-old daughter, Baeleigh Maurice, was hit and killed while riding her scooter to school on Sept. 9.

Dubois said the loss of her daughter has been immense.

"She had friends from pre-K to Grade 8. Everybody at the school knew her," she told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

"This is a really, really huge loss. My family is devastated."

A temporary stop sign was placed in the area after the fatal collision — but Dubois later learned it was only there because of road construction in the area. It has since been removed.

"I wish it would have stayed," said Dubois.

"Baeleigh had a right to be walking safe here." 

Delegation calls for greater police presence

On Thursday afternoon, a delegation from the Hudson Bay Park, Mayfair and Kelsey-Woodlawn Community Association was scheduled to make a presentation to the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners. The group is asking for greater police presence in the area, to make sure drivers follow the rules of the road.

"Although there is a cost attached, simple measures can go a long way," a letter from association president Diane Bentley sent to the board said.

"Drivers are in a hurry to get where they are going and often fail to pay attention to what is around them."

Saskatoon police continue to investigate the Sept. 9 collision that killed Baeleigh. No charges have been laid.

A spokesperson said she was not aware of any other fatal collisions in the immediate area in the last several years.

For her family's part, Rochelle Dubois says she does not feel supported by the police and is not in favour of more patrols.