After a driver fatally struck a 30-year-old woman as she walked in her St. Paul neighborhood, residents quickly put up signs that say, “Slow down!! Someone was killed here.”

People who knew Amber O. Deneen crossed out “Someone” and wrote, “Amber,” adding her photo to the signs.

A memorial is being planned for today at 5:13 p.m., at the time and place Deneen was struck on Thursday at St. Anthony Avenue and Aldine Street, near Interstate 94 and University Avenue.

Dennen and and her husband, Charles Deneen, were walking their two dogs at the time.

As community members mourn the loss of Amber Dennen, they’re also demanding action on reckless driving and pedestrian safety. They said they’ve been seeking solutions for a long time.

“What happened on Thursday was our biggest fear and something that we had long worried about in the neighborhood,” said Katie Kraft, who’s lived in the area since 2017. “It shouldn’t have happened. And we want to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

The driver left the scene and police asked for the public’s help in finding a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle. On Saturday, police arrested a 39-year-old St. Paul man on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case for potential charges.

Lisa Nelson, also a resident of the area, said she wants to see more enforcement of speeding and reckless driving around the city.

“The city and the police department have been really successful in reducing gun violence by going at the non-fatal shootings and focusing there as a preventive measure,” she said. “I think you can do the same thing with traffic and pedestrian safety. … The people who end up hitting people and killing people, this is not their first time driving unsafely.”

The St. Paul Police Department receives Toward Zero Deaths enforcement grant funding from the state, which allows them to have officers on the streets to focus on speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving and pedestrian and bicycle safety, said St. Paul Police Cmdr. Jeremy Ellison.

The police department plans to focus on speed enforcement in the area where Deneen was struck, along with putting a speed trailer there — it has a small radar that displays the driver’s speed and collects data about when people are speeding, so police know the best times for enforcement efforts, Ellison said.

“It also has an effect on getting drivers to slow down because many people say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize I was speeding,’” Ellison said. “This trailer will show them their speed, and if they’re going over the speed limit, it’ll flash, and there’s red and blue lights as well. If they truly weren’t paying attention, then they will be paying attention.”

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