Dachanell Ross Bryant is still trying to process the nightmare no parent should ever face: watching her two-year-old son, Kayden, struck by two vehicles in a hit-and-run, and left in the street.
“I just don’t understand that you just hit my child and didn’t decide to get out the car and try to help him,” Bryant said through tears. “You just kept going.”
The terrifying incident occurred earlier this month near the intersection of 33rd Street and Susquehanna Avenue in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, shortly after the family had wrapped up a picnic in nearby Fairmount Park.
Bryant was securing her children into their vehicle when, in a split second, Kayden wandered into the street.
“We heard a big boom,” she recalled. “And it was my baby in the middle of the street.”
Kayden was hit first by a blue SUV and then by a white pickup truck, both traveling in the same direction. Neither driver stopped to help, police said. Kayden’s godmother, Daisey Colon, remembered the horrifying sound.
“It sounded like a car hit another car, but it was Kayden,” she told CBS News Philadelphia. “Before I could look, he was already under the car.”
A Miracle Amid the Trauma
Kayden was rushed to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where doctors treated him for bruises, scrapes, and a head wound requiring staples. Miraculously, he sustained no broken bones and was released from the hospital the next evening.
“I cried a lot that night until I saw him and got to hold him,” Bryant said. “Seeing that he was going to be okay… I’m just so thankful he’s alive.”
Despite her relief, Bryant is haunted by the drivers’ callousness.
“How can you hit my child and keep going?” she asked. “All I’m asking is for you to turn yourself in.”
Investigation Ongoing
Philadelphia police have identified a possible image of the SUV involved and are continuing their search for both drivers. Authorities are asking anyone with information to come forward.
The incident has sparked outrage among local residents, not only because of the trauma inflicted on Kayden and his family, but because it echoes ongoing concerns about reckless driving and driver accountability in city neighborhoods.
Community Support
Since the incident, Kayden’s story has resonated deeply online and across Philadelphia. Many are calling for greater enforcement of pedestrian safety, especially in residential and high-traffic zones near parks and playgrounds.
As Bryant focuses on helping her son heal, she also wants justice—not just for Kayden, but to ensure this doesn’t happen to another child.
“Being able to hold him is truly a miracle,” she said. “But no family should have to go through this.”
