Homewood community gathers to remember girl killed while riding bike, call for safety changes

PITTSBURGH — Cory Carter is still grappling with the death of his 9-year-old daughter, Courtney, who was hit by a car and killed while riding her bike on Rosedale Street in Homewood on Aug. 18, just a block from her home.

“You know, [it’s] just a hard pill to swallow,” Carter said. “The outpouring and the community support has been amazing, wonderful. Even in the tragedy, it shows how kind people can be.”

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On Tuesday night, the Homewood community and members of the Pittsburgh biking community, led by Bike Pittsburgh, came together to pay tribute to Courtney by installing a ghost bike memorial at the spot where she was killed and leading a mile-and-a-half ride.

“We hate that we have to commemorate things like this but it’s so important for the community to show support for each other and show support for parents and family members and friends and neighbors of people who are killed on our streets,” said Bike Pittsburgh Executive Director Scott Bricker.

Friends of Courtney, like Kennedy Goodson, remember her as a fun and kind girl.

“She was nice. She would light up the room and stuff,” Goodson said.

Goodson wants kids to be able to have a safe place to ride their bikes, like a bike trail.

“I ride down here myself, so to see that somebody a year younger than me got ran over right here where I ride my bike, is concerning because I feel like we should be able to ride safely without having to worry about cars hitting us,” Goodson said.

On Tuesday night, the Promise Center of Homewood passed around a petition asking the city to install speed bumps, crosswalks, and other safety measures on Rosedale Street, calling it unsafe.

“We have to physically come out into the streets to cross our kids. We have to come into the streets to get our kids off the school bus, because we see it every day, we see cars going around the school bus, we see cars going around kids,” said Toy Broadus, the Promise Center of Homewood’s community coordinator.

According to City Councilman Khari Mosley, his office immediately requested a traffic study for Rosedale Street after Courtney’s death.

Mosley says Mayor Ed Gainey is set to share more information about that study on Thursday.

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