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Hundreds attend Chester prayer vigil to mourn 2 boys killed by Amtrak train
A Delaware County community is mourning two young boys killed by an Amtrak train as hundreds of people turned out at a Chester park in their memory.
CHESTER, Pa. - A Delaware County community is mourning two young boys killed by an Amtrak train as hundreds of people turned out at a Chester park in their memory.
Heartbreak and raw emotion at Martin Luther King Memorial Park Friday night, as the community gathered just feet away from the Amtrak train tracks where two children were killed.
The young lives of 9-year-old Jahaad Atkinson and 12-year-old Ayhir Womak were honored, as Ayhir’s sister remembered her brother and classmate at Chester Community Charter School.
"Even though you may not know my brother, you might not see my brother, you all may not be around my brother, but you are all going to miss a lot, because he was the best person up here," Aihyana Womack described her brother to those gathered.
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His grandfather, David Jones, remarked, "It’s unbearable how it happened, but I’m not the one to question it, for a reason."
The children were struck by a Washington D.C. bound train Saturday afternoon minutes after a neighbor warned them to get off the tracks. Other children who were there were uninjured.
Family and friends are struggling with how it happened and how it could have been prevented. But, Friday was about coming together for the families.
"Show the community how much we love them and how much we care about them. Show the children we’re here for them and we care for them," VP of Chester Upland School District, Fred Green, said.