Community fundraiser supports Cape Coral family of 8-year-old killed

A community came together to raise money for a family whose 8-year-old daughter was killed in a hit-and-run involving a red pickup truck. Layla Aiken will killed Monday while she waited for the school bus during dark morning hours in Cape Coral. She was a student at Trafalgar Elementary School.

Friends, family and neighbors came together for Lights for Layla Saturday, also a fundraiser to make school bus stops safer.

An estimated 2,000 people gathered at the event. Families from all over Southwest Florida joined at Cape Coral Church to support Aiken’s family in the wake of her tragic death to donate money to the cause.

The street Aiken waited for her bus had no sidewalk or street lights.

“To know that a little 8-year-old girl lost her life, and there’s so much we could do to prevent it,” Carolyn Hofacker said. “And I’m a grandparent, so I’m going to make sure the future is safer.”

Police have seized the pickup truck believed to be the one that hit and killed Aiken shortly after 6 a.m. Monday. But police have not made an arrest.

MORE:

• 8-year-old killed in hit-and-run at school bus stop in Cape Coral
• No arrest yet in Cape Coral hit-and-run that killed 8-year-old
• Former homicide investigator gives insight into Cape Coral hit-and-run