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Child killed on her way to Henrico swimming pool: 'God had other plans for her'

Chaney Elizabeth Simpson.jpg
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HENRICO COUNTY, Va. - A candlelight vigil is planned Monday for a two-year-old girl hit and killed by a driver late Saturday afternoon along Engleside Circle in Henrico County.

Chaney Elizabeth Simpson was in the parking lot at St. Luke’s Apartments with her family headed to the swimming pool when she was fatally struck.

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Chaney Elizabeth Simpson

“I saw that car and then everybody yelling my name. I ran to my baby,” Chaney's mother Ashley Hope said. “She was full of life."

Hope said the driver who hit her daughter was speeding, however, Henrico Police said the incident remained under investigation.

Chaney, who Hope said loved bright colors and unicorns, died in her mother's arms.

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Chaney Elizabeth Simpson

“I watched my daughter take her last breath," Hope shared. “I tried to hold my baby. I tried to make sure she wouldn’t leave me, but God had other plans for her.”

As a memorial in Chaney's honor grows at the site where she died, a vigil for the child was scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.

“All I’m trying to do is be strong for her and the rest of my children," Hope said. "That’s all I can do but it’s eating me up on the inside.”