By Cassidy Grom and Becca Robb | Echo
Last night at 8:30 p.m., Marion residents gathered in Matter Park to mourn the loss of 16-year-old Reamey Bell. Her cousin, stepmother, and other family members lit tall red candles and walked toward the gathering of friends and family.
The teen was killed early Thursday morning in a hit-and-run accident on S. Miller Avenue.
"She was happy, bright and always goofy, kind of like she always shone," said Savannah Worm, Bell's cousin.
Patricia Riddle leaned against her car in the lot outside of the park. Riddle had driven her 16-year-old daughter, who was friends with Bell, to the vigil and now she looked on at the assembling crowd of twinkling candles. It was a hard day. Bell was the third close friend Riddle's daughter had lost tragically.
Riddle remembered Bell as the little girl who grew up down the street and would ride her bike to Riddle's house. She said Bell was sweet-mannered, popular and always polite.
Bell was spending the night at her friend's house and was outside the house around 5 a.m. on Thursday. A witness was driving on S. Miller Avenue at the time and said she saw Bell run behind a black Pontiac. The car suddenly backed out of a driveway, hitting Bell and pinning her against the side of the witness's car. After hitting her, the Pontiac quickly left the area, said Fox 59.
The Chronicle-Tribune said police found Bell lying unresponsive on the roadway and pronounced her dead soon after they arrived. Her friends said they didn't know why Bell left the house as they were sleeping until the incident occurred, according to the Chronicle-Tribune.
The Marion Police Department has arrested 20-year-old Pedro G. Garcia, of Marion, in connection with the accident. Garcia admitted to being the owner of a black Pontiac fitting the eyewitness description, to being in the S. Miller area and to "hitting something" that morning, according to the Chronicle-Tribune. He is being charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, which is a level 5 felony. Other charges may be forthcoming and the investigation is still in progress.
Bell lived in Sweetser and was a student at The Crossing in Marion.
