Aunt of 14-year-old hit by vehicle near East High School wants safer routes to schools
CHEYENNE — “My niece was hit by a car today,” Madison Barbee, a Laramie County School District 1 substitute teacher, said in her TikTok video. “Let’s just start there.” On Nov. 9, the Cheyenne Police Department shared on its Facebook page that a 14-year-old was struck by an oncoming vehicle at the intersection of Windmill Road and East Pershing Boulevard, near East High School. Barbee commented under the post, saying, “I was struck in this same crosswalk 10 years ago, and I know quite a few people with the same experience or near misses.” “This is the second student to be struck (in recent years),” City Council member Michelle Aldrich said. “And so it is a major concern of ours.” The other student Aldrich referred to was Makaili “Mak” Evans, a 13-year-old, who was struck and killed by a motor vehicle while crossing Education Drive on Nov. 5, 2021, near McCormick Junior High School in west Cheyenne. Aldrich explained that the crosswalks by East have unique challenges when compared to the crosswalk where Evans was hit. “People on Pershing sometimes are going at excessive speeds. I don’t know if that was the case in this particular instance,” Aldrich said. “They’re
