This is the first photograph of the ‘kindest, most generous’ mother who died after a car mounted a pavement before fatally ploughing into her and her adult daughter just days before Christmas.
The fatal collision happened at the corner of Hamlet Court Road and St John’s Road in Westcliff, near Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on Thursday night, amid reports the vehicle was ‘speeding’.
Heartbroken locals, who left floral tributes and candles at the scene on Friday morning, have named the woman as 52-year-old Anna-Marie Stevens, from Westcliff-on-Sea, the Echo reports.
Her 23-year-old daughter survived the collision.
The tragedy occurred just months after Mrs Stevens scooped £13,000 on the Postcode Lottery.
Emergency crews rushed to the incident just before 5.30pm, before Mrs Stevens and her 23-year-old daughter were taken to hospital.
Despite the best efforts of medics, she died later in hospital. Her daughter’s injuries have been described as ‘not life-threatening or life changing’.
Police arrested the 31-year-old driver of a black Suzuki Splash at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drink or drugs.
The woman driver remains in custody for questioning.
In a statement, Essex Police said: ‘We were called to reports of a collision between a car and two pedestrians at the junction of Hamlet Court Road and St John’s Road at just before 5.30pm.
‘A 52-year-old woman and her 23-year-old daughter were taken to hospital, sadly, despite the best efforts of medical professionals, the 52-year-old woman died.
‘Her daughter’s injuries are described as not life-threatening or life changing. The 31-year-old driver of the car, a black Suzuki Splash, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drink or drugs. She remains in custody for questioning.’
Today, dozens of tributes emerged on social media, with one describing her as ‘one amazing lady taken far too soon’.
Another said she was ‘lovely and caring’, while a close friend wrote that she was ‘the kindest, most generous, funny, lovely lady.’
Others described the loss as ‘absolutely heartbreaking’.
In January this year, Mrs Stevens was interviewed by the Echo after she spent almost her entire £13,305 windfall from a Postcode Lottery win on trying to save the life of her beloved pet dog after it ‘ingested poison’ at a park.
She said at the time that she believed her nine-month-old dog, named Paul, had fallen unwell after eating something toxic while out on a walk in Kismet Park, Canvey.
Despite spending thousands at the vets to save the animal’s life, Paul sadly passed away from kidney failure just days later.
She said at the time: ‘Vets are convinced it was poison. I don’t want anyone going through the heartache that we went through.
‘I used all my winnings from the postcode lottery, and we lost our dog, he was beautiful.’
News of Mrs Stevens’ tragic death was revealed yesterday in a Facebook post by Milton Labour, as the group paid tribute to the victim.
‘On behalf of the Milton Councillors, it is with deep sadness that we have heard this morning that a speeding car mounted the pavement and hit a mother and child in St John’s Road in Westcliff last night,’ the post said.
‘Tragically the mother passed away in hospital. Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time. This tragic accident could have been avoided and was due to speeding.’
The surviving daughter and her family are being supported by specialist officers, Essex Police said, as they launched an appeal last night for any witnesses.
The force said it is seeking any dashcam footage from the area at the time of the collision.
Anyone with information can call police on 101, quoting incident number 0930 of December 12 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.