Daughter killed, mother hurt while in St. Paul crosswalk

A 24-year-old woman died Tuesday after she and her 64-year-old mother were hit by a sport-utility vehicle while crossing Kellogg Boulevard near downtown St. Paul.

The pair were in a crosswalk, crossing Kellogg at Mulberry Street about 7:40 p.m., said police spokesman Steve Linders.

A car in the right lane of Kellogg saw the pedestrians and stopped; the SUV driver in the left lane did not see them and hit both women.

The driver stopped and is cooperating with police. Linders said preliminary investigation indicates that neither drugs nor alcohol were a factor in the crash. Rain and fog may have played a role.

There are stop signs on Mulberry, but no traffic control devices except the crosswalk at that spot on Kellogg.

Both women were taken to Regions Hospital, where the daughter was pronounced dead. The mother is expected to survive.

The accident scene is across from the Minnesota History Center.

"What happened tonight is every family's worst nightmare," Linders said. "A mother and daughter went out for an evening together and one of them won't be going home."

Linders said the St. Paul Police Department on Thursday will start a yearlong pedestrian safety campaign and will be targeting intersections where people are most likely to be hit.

So far in 2016, he said, pedestrians have been hit in St. Paul an average of every other day.

Last year, 900 pedestrians were hit statewide. Forty were killed, including six in St. Paul.

PAT PHEIFER