Vigil for teens killed in hit-and-run crash

BALTIMORE (WMAR) - It's been one year since two teens were struck and killed along Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Thursday night, dozens of family members and friends gathered to remember Emerald Smith and Courtney Angeles.

“Seeing everybody here it's overwhelming, it makes me cry,” said Pamela Mendell-Morales, Courtney Angeles’ mother.  “Just happiness that these girls were loved.”

The life-long friends from Baltimore's Pigtown neighborhood were struck and killed by a speeding car, then died a short time later.

“Emerald and Courtney were the best people. They had big hearts,” said Emerald Smith’s sister, Destiny.

Police say 29-year-old Reuben Dunn had been driving the car that hit the girls, but then switched places with his girlfriend -- Kendra Myles -- who was in the passenger seat.

Myles was driving when police later stopped the car.  She pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and testified in court that Dunn was driving when the teens were hit.

Still, the jury determined there was reasonable doubt.

“My shirt does say no justice for Emerald and Courtney. But maybe us being here tonight can make awareness and maybe we can save somebody's life,” said Mary Kay Smith, Emerald Smith’s mother.

Courtney Angeles' mother says she and her attorney are working on a wrongful death lawsuit, against Reuben Dunn and Kendra Miles.