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Boy's Death Helps Push For Safer Walk To Howe Avenue School

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A young life was cut short in an instant when a second grader was killed one year ago because his walk home from school wasn't safe.

"I'm empty. I'm hollow. My love for my son is so deep that his death, it just tore me up," said Mieasha Dixon.

Dixon has learned that her son's death is leading to a big change. Work will soon begin to help make sidewalks safer and possibly save others' lives.

Plans are now under way to install a new crosswalk in front of a park on Howe Avenue. It's something residents have wanted for years but couldn't get until Dixon's son was killed.

"It's hard to face this place," said Dixon. "I don't go down this street."

The pain still hurts for Dixon, one year after her 7-year-old son, Tay'von Webb, was struck and killed by a car while walking home from school.

"It will always be in my head, seeing my son out in the street like that," said Dixon.

Webb's half-mile walk home from Howe Avenue Elementary took him along one of Sacramento's busiest streets. It's a path where the sidewalks abruptly end, forcing him and other children to cross the street in an area with no crosswalks.

"I don't want to see another mother even go through what I go through," said Dixon.

His death prompted other parents and teachers to demand a safer route to school.

"When you see a street like Howe Avenue, which is a major thoroughfare for Sacramento that doesn't have sidewalks for our students, I think that is frustrating," said Howe Avenue Elementary Vice Principal Kirsten Acke.

Now their efforts are paying off. More than $1 million in federal and state grants have been approved to install sidewalks and crosswalks where Webb was killed.

Dixon was overcome with emotion when we broke the news to her.

"It's just sad because it had to take the death of my son for sidewalks," said Dixon. "I'm glad the sidewalks has (sic) been approved as far as that so no other children would be hurt like that. But it's still my loss."

It's a loss that will never go away. Every day Dixon feels the pain, but she knows that in his short life, Webb brought about change that will save lives in years to come.

"He made a difference, you know," said Dixon. "My son is never going to be forgotten out here."

Dixon hopes her son's death serves as a reminder that there are still many communities that need sidewalks for a safe walk to school.

No charges were ever filed against the driver who hit Tay'von. CHP called it just a tragic accident.

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