In her own words: A mom mourns her daughter killed in Sacramento hit-and-run
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Nadea Becknell’s daughter Onaya Davis was 17 when she was killed in a hit-and-run collision in Meadowview on her way to school in September 2016. This story was written from interviews conducted over several days, which have been edited for length and clarity.
I just feel like she was forgotten about.
About four or five months ago, I went to the scene. It’s very difficult, but I wanted to go.
I have a lot of pictures of what the community did for her. They built a beautiful memorial for her, and there it was, outside the apartments for maybe two years. It made me feel really good, seeing the decorations and flowers. But when I went out a few months ago, nothing is there now.
Onaya, she worked very hard to get where she was going. She loved school. She wanted to work in pediatrics with children. She was going to go into a program to become a nurse.
Onaya had a condition called achalasia – a rare disorder that makes it difficult for food and liquid to pass from the esophagus into the stomach – but she didn’t let that stop her from anything she wanted to do in her life. She missed some schooling because of medical problems, but when she was able to go back, she was very positive. She tutored kindergarten kids. She was never confrontational or upset with someone. She didn’t even know how to get mad at anybody.
There was a little girl, she came to me when we were doing barbecues to raise money for Onaya’s service, and she had a piggy bank. “I want to give this to Onaya,” she said. “I know her because every time I see her in the morning, I know I’m on time for school.”
Onaya went to La Entrada. We had been living off Madison Avenue (near Fair Oaks ), but I had just moved out of the neighborhood because it was bad, and I wound up in Rio Linda. Onaya didn’t want to leave her school, though. She said, ‘I just have a few more months. I just want to go to Dad’s for a couple months. I have a few more credits.” So I agreed and let her live in Meadowview.
I’m a CNA, working with the elderly community. At the time I would work in the mornings, from 6 to 2:30, so there was no way I could get her over to school and then get myself back to work in time.
So she would take public transit every day. Down Meadowview Road to the light rail, it’s at least a 10-minute walk. The lighting was a big issue with that area. There’s been lots of death on that street with hit-and-runs. I told her, “I don’t like you walking around,” and she says, “I’m on the sidewalk. I’m OK. The bus stop is right across the street.” You know how it is at 17. I didn’t want to frustrate her because of my paranoia, so I just said just be careful.
I actually got the call at work when it happened to her. I had just clocked in and got that call. It was terrible. I couldn’t even go out there and identify her. It was like I had rocks and bricks in my feet.
It feels like my whole soul got snatched out of my body. You’re supposed to protect your baby, and I couldn’t protect her. I never found out what happened to my daughter. I have no closure. But I knew I had to keep going, I had other children and grandchildren I had to be strong for.
The year she died, I had four grandchildren, just in one year. Now I have 11 grandchildren. On Onaya’s birthday, we cook and celebrate and take pictures. We sing “Happy Birthday.” I know I can’t have her back, but it feels like she’s here. She loved homemade banana pudding from scratch, she would go crazy for it, so we make that. We cooked gumbo at the last birthday party, because she loved that, too. I just wish she was here.
This story was originally published August 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.