Channel 11 sits down with grieving family of woman killed in Oakland construction site accident

PITTSBURGH — A mom of three has been identified as the victim of a deadly construction site accident in Oakland on Friday.

Aleia Hall Lopez died when a steel cylinder hit her as she was walking on the sidewalk.

Channel 11′s Lisa Sylvester sat down with Lopez’s mother just hours after the horrific accident.

“It could have happened to anybody. It just happened to my child today,” her mother Melanie Hall said. “I’m just glad no babies were hurt. No other children were hurt.”

Hall aches for the daughter she lost, a mother herself who was raising three children.

“Just to not ever be able to hug her again,” Hall said through tears. “I knew with my spirit when I saw the news report this afternoon. They said it was at the Petersen Events Center that she was killed. I called her right away, I called her at work, I called her on her cell phone and I texted her and I said, ‘Call me right away and let me know you are alright.’”

But the call never came.

Instead, it was Hall’s granddaughter calling, confirming the worst news imaginable.

Lopez was on her lunch break from her job at Western Psych when a steel cylinder weighing two tons broke free from a construction site and rolled through a chainlink fence, down a hill, striking her.

Hall is now trying to comfort her grandchildren, including Lopez’s 14-year-old son, Ethan, who asked his mom to stay home today.

“He didn’t want her to go to work today,” Hall explained. “He thought if he was staying home, she could stay home with him. They would watch movies together, that was their thing, watch a movie and have quality time. He is so broken up because she didn’t stay home. He feels if she had just listened to him, she would still be here.”

Lopez was the glue that held her family together, the one to take care of everyone. Now, Hall will be the one to pass on the love and caring.

“Somehow, I have got to see them smiling again for their mother’s sake,” she said.

We also learned that Lopez did not have life insurance. A GoFundMe has been set up for her family. Click here to donate.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group