{"id":11638,"date":"2011-12-01T16:00:45","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T21:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=11638"},"modified":"2011-12-01T16:10:47","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T21:10:47","slug":"sister-of-accident-victim-wants-street-renamed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=11638","title":{"rendered":"Sister Of Accident Victim Wants Street Renamed"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON<\/strong>
\n Sentinel City Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ms. Nicole Walker<\/strong> said she is still in shock over the death of her sister, Ms. Monica Alvarez<\/strong> (pictured, right)<\/strong>. Ms. Alvarez<\/strong> died on November 16th after she was hit by a car near the intersection of N. 43rd Street and E. Hillsborough Avenue.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, she completed the first step in her agenda to have the street where her sister died, renamed in her honor. Ms. Walker<\/strong> appeared before City Council to make her request officially known.<\/p>\n

Appearing before City Council on Thursday, Ms. Walker<\/strong> said, \u201cI\u2019m looking for lights, sidewalks, speed bumps, and I want the street named after my sister. If that can\u2019t be done, then I want a monument in her honor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chairman Charlie Miranda<\/strong> extended his condolences to Ms. Walker<\/strong> and assured her that her representative, Councilman Frank Reddick<\/strong>, was already working toward accomplishing those things.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nicole Walker<\/p><\/div>\n

Ms. Walker<\/strong> said her sister was about 6 years old when their mother, the late Mrs. Alice Alvarez<\/strong> died. She grew up with Ms. Walker\u2019s<\/strong> children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like a mother figure to her. We were very close. It\u2019s very hard for me to go over to her apartment and see the teddy bears and dolls. People even took teddy bears and dolls to the hospital. I want to thank everyone for the prayers, love and support. It has been amazing,\u201d Ms. Walker<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

At the time of her death, Ms. Alvarez<\/strong> did not have any insurance. However, Ms. Walker<\/strong> said the community gave from their hearts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to have the street named after my sister and I\u2019m not going to stop until I do. That is when I will feel complete and can go on with my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ms. Walker<\/strong>, a recovering addict, gives all credit for her being able to endure the tragedy to God. \u201cIt\u2019s not me, it\u2019s God. He is real. I didn\u2019t have a dime to bury my sister, but I thank God for the people who came through for us. God has poured so many blessings on me and I won\u2019t move until He tells me to move.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t hold any hard feelings toward the young man. I called him over to my house the day of my sister\u2019s funeral and talked to him. He kept holding his head down and I told him to hold his head up. I want him to be somebody, come back, and tell his story. People have to understand, the same thing can happen to you that happened to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

A hair stylist by trade, Ms. Walker<\/strong> said she had a hard time dealing with her sister\u2019s death. \u201cI went into the closet and told God to have his way. He is the only one who can comfort me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Alvarez<\/strong>, a 27-year-old Tampa native, who was six months pregnant, was pushing her 1-year-old daughter, Imani, in a stroller at the time of the accident. Ms. Shanita Little<\/strong>, 23, was walking with Ms. Alvarez<\/strong> and pushing her own 1-year-old daughter, Marquisha Wilson<\/strong>, in a second stroller.<\/p>\n

Ms. Alvarez<\/strong> and her unborn son, Angel, died. Ms. Little<\/strong> and her daughter were injured, but survived. Imani was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, where she was admitted in critical condition. Ms. Walker<\/strong> said the little girl is still hospitalized, but she is showing improvements.<\/p>\n

The driver, Daryl Oliver<\/strong>, 28, of Tampa, told police he didn\u2019t see them walking down the partially unlit street.<\/p>\n

The accident happened within a block of the intersection of East Hillsborough Avenue and N. 43rd Street. The area is poorly lit and there are no sidewalks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor Ms. Nicole Walker said she is still in shock over the death of her sister, Ms. Monica Alvarez (pictured, right). Ms. Alvarez died on November 16th after she was hit by a car near the intersection of N. 43rd Street and E. Hillsborough Avenue. On Thursday, she completed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}