In Pittsburg, the community is grieving the loss of a teenager who died after being hit by a car this week.
Dozens of people gathered Saturday night at the entrance to Golden Gate Community School in Pittsburg. Family, friends, neighbors and teachers showed up to remember 17-year-old Brooke Jeffrey, who was a junior at Golden Gate Community School.
Jeffrey was hit and killed by a car Tuesday evening at the intersection of Stoneman Avenue and Briarcliff Drive, directly across from the school.
Pittsburg police have said they are investigating this incident, but have not said anything about the driver or the vehicle involved. NBC Bay Area reached out to Pittsburg police for comment Saturday but did not immediately receive a response.
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Friends say on the night Jeffrey was killed, she had just finished dance practice at Melody's Dance Studio in Antioch.
Jeffrey's mom, Paula Jeffrey, said her daughter got a ride from dance practice to her house in Pittsburg. Paula Jeffrey explained that her daughter then took the five-minute walk from their home in Pittsburg to meet up with her at the school where they were signing forms for an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.
Paula Jeffrey said that the lights above the crosswalk at the intersection weren't on that evening. In fact, she said, the lights at that intersection have never worked since they were installed. Multiple residents nearby also told NBC Bay Area that the lights at that crosswalk have never worked.
In the absence of lighting, volunteers helped people attending the memorial cross the street to get to the school Saturday night. After the vigil started, several Pittsburg police officers showed up as well and helped with coordinating traffic so that pedestrians could cross the intersection.
"I don’t want anyone else to become a victim or something else that could have been prevented or avoided," Paula Jeffrey said.
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She is encouraging community members to show up at the Pittsburg City Council meeting on March 20 to call for safety improvements at that intersection, both to improve lighting and to reduce speeding.
Paula Jeffrey said she hasn't heard any updates from police yet about who might have been driving the car that night.
"Hopefully they’ll have some answers soon, [I'm] hoping wishing praying," Paula Jeffrey said.
NBC Bay Area also reached out to the Pittsburg city manager for comment about this incident and the intersection but did not immediately receive a response.
At the dance studio in Antioch where Brooke Jeffrey attended classes for 12 years, her friends are grappling with the reality of her death and trying to rechoreograph their competition dances without her.
"Re-blocking [the dance] and just listening to the song, it doesn’t feel the same because she’s not there," said 14-year-old Essence Hughes, who had been friends with Brooke Jeffrey for a decade.
"She has a lot of people who care for her and family that will be there for her, who will not stop fighting for her until we find out who did it,” Hughes continued.
Lexi Joachim, 15, said she considered Brooke Jeffrey family after years of dancing together.
"I just feel like the person who did it should speak up and say that they did it, because its kind of wrong and [Brooke] didn’t deserve anything that happened to her," Joachim said.
Melody's Dance Studio and other community members are raising funds to support Jeffrey's family during this time.
Brooke Jeffrey's friends say they want the public to remember her talent in dance, her creativity and her ability to uplift others.
