Janie Harmon had a bad feeling when her daughter, LaVona Graham, didn’t come home.
Graham, 62, had gone out to a nearby convenience store and was only about a block away.
“LaVona’s dead. I just feel it,” Harmon said she told her family.
“Later that evening, we got the news that she was killed,” the 84-year-old said.
Harmon told The LA Local her daughter died while crossing the street in a hit-and-run crash near Manchester and Vermont avenues on April 30. Harmon said the driver fled the scene after the collision.
Graham, a grandmother and retired educator from South LA, died from blunt trauma and her manner of death was classified as an accident, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. The LA Local reached out to the LA Police Department, but did not hear back.
Graham’s death adds to concerns about hit-and-run crashes across Los Angeles, where community advocates and grieving families continue calling for stronger traffic safety measures and accountability for drivers who flee the scene.
“We’re taking it day by day, bonding together and it’s something you never want to see happen,” said Justin Holley, Graham’s youngest nephew.
With very little information about the accident, he said he just wants to remember good things, like her warmth and generosity.
“My aunt was a giver and she would share with anyone in need,” Holley said. “She and my mother, they got that from my grandmother.”
He set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral arrangements, displaying photos of Graham throughout her life.
Graham’s untimely death has brought their family closer, Holley said, and reflecting on her life brings them some comfort.
“What I’m going to miss the most is her laugh,” he said.
LaVona Graham was ‘always a giver,’ family says
Harmon said Graham “was always a giver,” and described her daughter’s lifelong commitment to helping others.
“She would just give people money on the street,” Harmon said.
Graham is now being remembered by her loved ones for her generosity, her beautiful singing voice and dedication to her students.
She spent much of her career teaching computer science throughout LA County, she was fluent in sign language and typed 130 words per minute, said Hezekiah Holley, Graham’s oldest nephew.
“I was at Paramount High School from 1993 to 1995,” Holley said. “She was my computer teacher but no one knew and I made sure my friends, the class clowns, didn’t give her any problems.”
Holley said his aunt was well known for her bubbly personality. The family affectionately called her Simp, a nickname given by Graham’s grandmother because she had a simple personality and always cracked jokes.
“I’ll always remember how funny she was and the life of the party,” Holley said.
Still, Graham’s mother told The LA Local that following her divorce in 2008, her daughter sometimes struggled with depression but she pushed forward while remaining devoted to her children, students and community.
Graham leaves behind her sister, Lavertcha Holley, two adult daughters, Danielle and Candice Graham, two grandchildren and a third grandchild on the way, according to Hezekiah Holley.
Anyone with information about the collision is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
