Fairview Middle School student hit by vehicle, killed in Alabama

ALBERTVILLE, ALABAMA — A 13-year-old Fairview Middle School student was killed Thursday in Alabama after being struck by a vehicle, according to family members.

La'Asia Nesbitt's mother, Kamira Laws, said her daughter was hit by a vehicle on a road in Albertville, Alabama, where their family is staying for the summer. 

Nesbitt had gone up the road to see her grandparents, but Kamira Laws said she didn't know exactly led to her daughter's death. Police told her they are still investigating. 

"I don't what the circumstances was, due to (police) saying they would get back to me," Laws said. 

Calls to the Albertville Police Department requesting comment were not returned Friday. 

Nesbitt attended Fairview Middle School, where she competed on the track, wrestling and volleyball teams and took honors classes, according to her father, Jerry Laws.

Kamira Laws described her daughter as a "leader" who was loved by friends and could be counted on to help care for her younger siblings.

"She was just so sweet, caring, she was funny, she was goofy, she was sunshine, sometimes really straightforward when she wanted to get something done," Kamira said. 

Nesbitt was interviewed for a Kitsap Sun story last year about the racial climate and discipline at Fairview Middle School. She participated in Living Life Leadership, a community youth mentoring program based at the Marvin Williams Recreation Center in Bremerton aimed at giving students the skills and confidence to speak up for themselves.

“I learned how to advocate for myself,” Nesbitt said at the time. “I don’t let no one run over me. I don’t let no one speak above me, and I don’t let no one say what I think. I have my own voice and it’s going to be heard.”

Nesbitt was staying with her mother's family in Albertville for the summer while Jerry Laws looked for housing in Bremerton. In July, the family was told their lease would not be renewed because the apartment they were living in was being remodeled, Kamira said. 

"I would have never come down to visit if we weren't in transition like we are," Kamira said.

Jerry Laws is a Navy veteran who is 100 percent disabled. The family has started a fundraiser to help pay to bring Nesbitt's body back to Washington for a funeral.

"I just want her to be brought back home so her friends can say goodbye to her, so that her community, the city, she was loved by a lot of people," Jerry Laws said. 

While Nesbitt was born in New York, she spent most of her life growing up in Washington, her mother said.

"I would rather have her someplace where people know her and will truly mourn her for the person that she was," Kamira said. 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story listed La'Asia Nesbitt as 14years old. She was 13 years old.