MONROE, La. – It’s been almost a year since Amanda Robinson lost her daughter in a hit-and-run accident.
Robinson said not a day goes by where she doesn’t think of her sweet daughter Ashley Dorsey. She said she’s extremely thankful for all of the prayers, cards and continued support and now needs help with one last thing for her daughter – a headstone.
“It would be nice for her friends, for her little brother who just started coming to the cemetery with me, to be able to have a headstone out there,” Robinson said.
Ashley was a Neville High School sophomore. She loved to draw and dance and was loved by so many people. Her mother said she had dreams of going to medical school.
Daniel Ross Jr., 51, is charged with hit and run fatality in connection with the death of 15-year-old Ashley Dorsey in October. Dorsey was hit along Park Avenue and Eason Place while she was skateboarding.
Ross’ bond was lowered to $20,000 from $1 million. A motion to reduce his bond filed in March says the state declined to file an original charge of negligent homicide and that the $1 million bond was unreasonable and unnecessary. He is due back in court on September 8.
Arrest records state that Ross admitted that his vehicle struck the victim and that he left the scene without rendering aid.
Robinson said it was months before she could even think of looking at a headstone, and by the time she did, it came with some financial difficulties.
“I reached out about the assistance through the state, and there were a lot of stipulations that we had to meet, and then not everybody gets approved and then it’s a year wait. So here I was thinking this was going to be a way to get her headstone, and it’s not,” she said.
Robinson said they held a fundraiser initially but pulled it, thinking they would get enough from the state. In addition, she said the headstone pricing ended up being more than she first thought. The stone itself costs $4250, and the sketching is estimated at $2500.
“If it wasn’t for this community in so many ways, we wouldn’t have made it through. So, I hate to ask for more assistance, but it’s needed,” she said.
To donate, visit Robinson’s mother’s Facebook Fundraiser, or send money through the app Venmo. Robinson’s username is Amanda-Robinson-1984.
Amanda said that Ashley loved drawing monarch butterflies and wearing them on her dance costumes. Robinson has one sketch already drawn up with Monarch wings on the headstone; while it’s an idea now, she’s hoping it becomes a reality soon.
“I want the best for her, and even if it takes a while to get that butterfly, it is what I want,” she said.
