‘Heartbreaking’: Family of B.C. pedestrian killed urges drivers to slow down

One week after a Vancouver mother was struck and killed while crossing a busy intersection on a dark and rainy night, her family is urging drivers to slow down and watch out for pedestrians.

“Take your time,” Rivers Stonechild, the victim’s husband, told Global News in an interview Saturday. “Because now my family’s impacted in a way where my children will never see their mom again, my mother-in-law will never see her daughter, her grandma will never see her again.”

Raven Prince, 45, was crossing Main Street at National Avenue at a marked crosswalk shortly after midnight on Sunday Oct. 25, when police said she was hit by a southbound SUV.

Despite life-saving efforts, Prince was pronounced dead at the scene just before 1 a.m.

Stonechild, who said Prince was struck less than a block away from her home, received a call from his daughter’s partner around 2:25 a.m., informing him of his wife’s passing.

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“I just felt like this instant dread washed over me,” he said.

Earlier on the evening of Sat. Oct. 24, Stonechild spoke with Prince over the phone after she left a concert at Rogers Arena.

“I never thought that that would be the last time that I ever spoke with her,” Stonechild recalled.

After meeting in high school and reconnecting years later, Stonechild and Prince got married in 2011 and shared a blended family.

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Although recently separated, they were co-parents to four children – two sons and a daughter in their 20s – and a 14-year-old son they had together.

“She had a really amazing heart, she had a way of connecting with all types of people throughout the community,” Stonechild told Global News. “She was a very beautiful person, a social butterfly and I just feel like the community’s a lot poorer now that she’s not here with us.”

Vancouver police said it was dark and raining heavily at the time Prince was struck, and thrown approximately 30 metres.

The driver of the SUV stayed at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation.

While alcohol or drugs are not believed to be involved, the VPD is looking into whether speed played a role.

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In an interview Friday, Const. Megan Lui said she was unable to comment on what speed an SUV driver would need to be travelling in order to throw a pedestrian 30 metres.

“That’s something that the collision investigation would be able to assist on because a lot of physics go into calculating what speed the driver was going, where the pedestrian was standing,” Lui said.

Global News has confirmed surveillance from the Ivanhoe Hotel – which has been handed over to police -captured the impact. No charges have been recommended as the investigation continues.

The VPD is urging both drivers and pedestrians to be vigilant in a season where visibility on the roads is often poor.

Drivers, Lui said, should make sure there is enough time to get to their destination.

“So you’re not having to speed, make sure you don’t have any distractions like texting, calling, and you have your eyes focused on the road,” Lui said.

Pedestrians she said, should cross at a walk light and make eye contact with drivers to ensure they are stopping, and whenever possible, wear reflective gear as all black clothing is very hard to see at night.

“Just slow down, take your time. We’ll all get where we need to go in a safe way,” echoed Stonechild, as friends of Prince passed by her memorial outside the Ivanhoe Pub Saturday.

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“Hopefully she’s in a better place,” Vern Bevis said in an interview.

Bevis, who grew up with Prince in east Vancouver and knew her since high school, said he came by to say goodbye.

“She was really good to me and she was an amazing person,” recalled Bevis. “She would like light up a room when she came into the room and she had a really nice laugh to her.”

Prince, who worked at the Vancouver Indigenous Justice Centre, was also a Powwow dancer.

An online fundraiser has been created to help her family with funeral arrangements, while Stonechild focuses on the children who’ve lost their mother.

“It’s really heartbreaking and I just feel like I wish I could just take their pain away from them,” Stonechild said.