CINCINNATI -- The remains of 3-year-old Khloe Pitts, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver as she left the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights in November 2016, will soon be laid in their final resting place at Spring Grove Cemetery.
In March, Vice Mayor Chris Smitherman asked her family if he could assist in raising $5,000 to honor the little girl, whose mother described her as "the light of our life."
"She just loved everything about life," Joy White said. "She was just so happy."
White and Demetrice Pitts, Khloe's father, plan to inter their daughter's cremated remains in Spring Grove's "Babyland" in early May. White previously told WCPO their family wasn't ready to part with the urn until now.
"We still think about her every single day, and we just really, really miss her," White said.
Smitherman's heart went out to the family after he invited them to his office to share their story. He's proud that Cincinnati has wrapped its arms around the family.
"This just really shows the generosity of citizens in Cincinnati that connected with this story and wanted to be helpful," Smitherman said.
White and Pitts hope their story can give hope to any other parents going through the pain of losing a child. White suggested others keep praying, believing, moving forward and that they keep God first.
"Throughout all of this, I mean there's always something good at the end of the tunnel," Pitts said.
"We are just so blessed and grateful to have everybody walk these shoes with us -- walk in these footsteps with us," White added.
Now, near the zoo's entrance sits a bench, memorializing the 3-year-old's life. The crosswalk where Khloe took her last steps has also been designated as "Khloe's Krossing."
Donteiz Romond Dickey has been accused of hitting Khloe and her mother in that Vine Street crosswalk that night 17 months ago. Khloe died in a hospital months later.
