Dozens of community members in Chester held vigil Saturday night for 9-year-old Ny’Leek Ellison, who was paralyzed in a hit-and-run accident from a year ago, and has since died, writes Ryan Hughes and Bill Seiders for CBS Philadelphia.
Community members sang, prayed, and mourned together.
“I thought I had it, I thought I was going to see my baby walk again,” said Anita Carrington, Ny’Leek’s mother.
Carrington said Ny’Leek died of cardiac arrest on Thursday.
She described herself as numb but is comforted that her little boy is reunited with his dog, Adonus, who died a week earlier.
A little more than a year ago, Ny’Leek survived a hit-and-run accident, but was left paralyzed from the neck down.
He spent five months in the hospital and was welcomed home by the community last summer.
The boy was struck as he was getting off a SEPTA bus at 9th and Tilghman streets in February 2025.
The driver left the scene but was later arrested. He was sentenced to 1.5 to three years in prison for aggravated assault.
The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether the charges should be upgraded following Ny’Leek’s death.
Read more about Ny’Leek Ellison and how the community responded to his accident at CBS Philadelphia.
