KELLY TOWNSHIP -- State police say no criminal charges will be filed after a 2-year-old boy was hit by an SUV in the parking lot of Walmart near Lewisburg Friday night.
Anthony Cooley may have been only two years old, but family members say he touched a lot of people with his love of music and outgoing personality.
The little boy died after troopers said an SUV hit him in a parking lot near Lewisburg.
Anthony Cooley started life as a preemie, but grew into a two year old who astonished his grandfather, David Walter.
"He loved to play with the piano and always loved to pretend he was directing a choir or a band. [He was] very much in love with music," Walter said.
Friday night just before 10 p.m. Anthony and his family were leaving Walmart near Lewisburg when state police said the little boy darted into a lane of traffic in the parking lot.
"Nobody really knows exactly what happened. He just escaped for seconds," Walter said.
Troopers said the toddler was hit and run over by an SUV and later died at Evangelical Community Hospital. The driver, a woman from Milton, was also taken to the hospital to be checked out.
Officials said no charges will be filed and are calling this an accident.
Anthony's grandparents showed us his little red stool and the monkey toy he liked to toss, now painful reminders of how his life was cut short.
Family members say they sought out the driver in the hospital to let her know they don't blame her.
“They went and found the driver in the ER and my daughter and granddaughter went to sing to her, sang some hymns and had a prayer with her,” said Walter.
At the shopping center along Route 15 where the deadly collision took place, Meg Martin of Lewisburg, a mother herself, said the toddler’s death shows how suddenly tragedy can strike.
"Sometimes they dart and that is a mother’s worst nightmare," Martin said.
Anthony's family said their church community is helping them deal with the loss.
Friends have set up an account online to help pay for funeral expenses.
