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Vigil Held For 9-Year-Old, Olivia Mendez, Killed In Crash Involving Illegal Drag Racing In Dallas

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A community in mourning came together Sunday to honor a 9-year-old girl who was killed after a car that was apparently drag racing on a Dallas street crashed into the vehicle she was in.

The community is also hoping for change in regards to racing in the neighborhood as they held a candlelight vigil at the site of the crash.

Olivia Mendez
Olivia Mendez (Credit: Family Photo)

Police said three cars were illegally drag racing in the 10700 block of Lake June Road Friday evening when one of the cars hit the vehicle Olivia Mendez was in. The 9-year-old was pronounced dead at the hospital, and her 3-year-old sister was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Her sister was released from the hospital and attended the vigil.

Mendez's father, who was driving the vehicle, suffered internal bleeding and a broken nose, while her mother has fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. They both remain in the hospital.

Police said they arrested the driver who hit Mendez's vehicle and later took the other two drivers who were racing into custody. Their identities or the charges they face have not yet been released.

Olivia Mendez
Olivia Mendez (Credit: Family Photo)

On Sunday, the heartbreaking community gathered to pay their respects to the 9-year-old girl who had just finished the fourth grade at Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary School and to pray for change.

"We just ask that you continue to be with them and show them that... this is something too common that we don't want to see. Dear Lord, we know what we need to be the change in this community and that we need to help others understand that this is not an area to be racing and to be doing... countless acts that endanger other peoples' lives," one speaker said during a group prayer.

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