Prayer vigil held Friday for young boy hit, killed by truck

MILWAUKEE -- Family, friends, and community members gathered Friday evening, May 18th for a prayer vigil to remember 11-year-old Israel Brown, the young boy who was hit and killed by a truck earlier this week.

Israel Brown was struck by a pickup truck Wednesday, May 16th as he ran across the street after school.

The accident happened near the intersection of Port Washington and Keefe Avenues around 4 p.m. Wednesday. Brown died at the scene.

“I dropped him off at 7:45, and at 3:30 he was no longer with me. That’s just how fragile life is,” Diane Brown, Israel’s mother, said.

“I tell them everyday, ‘Have I told you, today, that ‘I love you?’ And, sometimes, Israel would come and say, ‘Mom, you forgot to tell us one thing, today!’ Ahhhh! I love you!” Brown said.

According to the medical examiner’s report, the school Brown attended, Hope Christian School: Fortis, had just let out, and several buses were parked on the west side of Port Washington Rd.

The report says Brown “apparently ran out in traffic between the buses. The pickup driver stated that he did not have time to react and struck the child.”

Brown’s mother is not assigning blame in the case, but she’s giving the city and the school an assignment of sorts.

“If anything positive can come out of this, by God, let that be one of them — that attention is being paid to this. At least take it to the table. At least say, ‘Now, what else can we do to prevent this from happening, again?’” Brown said.

The driver who struck Brown says he was traveling at less than 30 miles an hour. There is no word yet on whether any charges will be filed.

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