The family of a little girl who died after being struck by a vehicle driven by her mother is speaking out.
Olive Moore’s aunt says she wants to set the record straight and focus on the memory of the little girl, who she says danced, jumped and cart wheeled her way through life.
“She just hugged everybody and just wanted to be on your lap and tell you you were pretty and tell you you’re good at everything,” says Kalyn Moore. “She’s just so positive.”
That’s the Olive the family wants to remember, but there are legalities clouding their grieving.
The nine-year-old girl died after she was struck by a van on Jan. 19 in Pleasantville, N.S.
Police say the little girl had just been dropped off near a relative’s home when the van backed over her on Corkum Division.
She was taken to the South Shore Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Police say her mother, 30-year-old Candice Roxanne Moore of Mount Pleasant, is facing one count of impaired driving causing death and one count of refusing to comply with the breathalyzer in connection with the incident.
Court records show she has no previous convictions or charges.
“A lot of the members that were on scene are parents so we can identify with the fact that it was a young child,” says Chester RCMP Const. Tamu Bracken. “It’s difficult for the family involved and it’s difficult for the community.”
Kalyn Moore wants to clear up misinformation in media reports, saying her sister-in-law wasn’t drinking at the time of the accident and that the girl slipped and fell under the van.
“We shouldn’t listen to this coverage, that’s just a news story, that’s just supposed to be interesting, somebody’s tragedy. This is a real tragedy that we’re living,” she says.
“We want to focus on Olive and it’s making us think about the law and the media and we just want to focus on our love for Olive.”
She wrote her niece’s obituary, describing her as a poet who wanted to be a rock star.
“She loved everybody and loved life.”
Moore’s funeral was held Friday at the Pleasantville Baptist Church.
Her mother is due to appear in Bridgewater provincial court on March 27.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell
