Family, community members mourn 12-year-old boy killed by speeding driver in South LA

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Family and community members are remembering a 12-year-old boy one month after he was hit and killed by a speeding driver in South Los Angeles.

Michael Smith was riding his bike when he was run down at 83rd and Main streets on the afternoon July 22. The driver, who was arrested that same day, was allegedly going 75mph on the residential street when she struck the boy.

Kaleah Beasley, 21, was arrested for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Smith's heartbroken family gathered with community activists Thursday to demand safer streets, calling for speed bumps along the busy thoroughfare.

"We're doing the best that we could. We're holding on, trying to stay strong for him and trying to just raise awareness so another family doesn't have to go through this," said his brother, Christopher Taylor.

"We're here to say that this community deserves a safer road. That these kids deserve safer roads... that this road right here is a race track, said Damian Kevitt, executive director for the non-profit Streets Are For Everyone.

A white Ghost Bike Memorial now marks the site of the deadly collision.

"You have a whole family riddled with grief and sadness over what could've been so easily avoided," said Aydian Atwater, Smith's cousin.

The boy's devastated family is still struggling to comprehend the senseless tragedy, mourning a 12-year-old who they say always lit up the room.

"Whenever he would come around, it was all smiles and stuff. It was a happy time when he would be around," said Riley Jackson. "My cousin wasn't meant to die this early."