Community group builds bench to honor SWFL teen Allana Staiano killed in hit-and-run

Reporter: Justin Kase Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Benches for our Babes built a bench to honor 14-year-old Allana Staiano, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash walking home in the Sun Coast Estates community of North Fort Myers in January 2020. The group presented it to Allana’s mother, Christine Gray Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. Credit: WINK News.

The family of a teenager killed in a hit-and-run crash received a token in her honor.

Southwest Florida group Benches for our Babes presented mother Christine Gray with a bench in honor of her daughter, Allana Staiano, who was killed in January after being hit by a car while walking home with her best friend, who was injured as well. The driver of the car did not stop to help the two girls after hitting them.

Gray picked up the bench from the group Monday. Benches for our Babes made it for her. Allana’s mom said it’s a perfect way to remember her little girl and to serve as a reminder for others to watch their surroundings.

“And I’m actually going to be doing some wood burning to set it into the wood,” Gray said. “And there’s going to be a little mural and a design that her sisters had said that they wanted to participate in designing.”

Benches for our Babes is a community group that formed to honor victims of similar tragedies after Southwest Florida girls Layla Aiken and Alana Tamplin were both killed in hit-and-run crashes at the beginning of 2019.

Gray says the bench will sit near where Allana was killed in North Fort Myers. Her memorial also remains nearby.

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