Photos of Paige Donahue, including her trying on her wedding dress. Donahue was killed in a fatal 2023 hit-and-run accident in Wheaton four months before her wedding. (Provided photos)

Traci Palucci is worried that her 8-year-old granddaughter will carry the pain of losing her aunt and best friend for the rest of her life.

Paige Donahue, Palucci’s youngest daughter, was killed in a 2023 hit-and-run accident in Wheaton. The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office did not file criminal charges against the driver, Tarra Fiedler of Batavia, saying that Fielder had no knowledge that she struck a person.

A 16-month Wheaton police investigation ultimately connected Fielder to the crash.

Donahue was a pedestrian, crossing Roosevelt Road near Crest Street when she was struck and killed.

Fiedler was found guilty of failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident with a pedestrian during her court appearance Dec. 6. Her driver’s license will be suspended for one year. She was also sentenced to six months’ conditional discharge, 25 hours of community service and attending driver improvement school.

Palucci said the driver’s punishment is little consolation for what she and her family, including her granddaughter, have been through since the accident. During victim impact statements at the Dec. 6 court hearing, Palucci expressed to DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Alexander McGimpsey the toll the loss of Donahue has had on the family.

“My granddaughter suffers from PTSD, anxiety and panic attacks,” Palucci said. “She doesn’t understand how some lady could run over her aunt and best friend and will not get in trouble. No punishment.

“Explain this to an 8-year-old. She asks over and over why (the driver) didn’t help her or even call 911.”

Palucci noted that her granddaughter had to change schools because of the incident.

“She became known as the girl whose aunt was killed trying to cross the street after getting a Slurpee from 7-Eleven, and the lady ran her over and didn’t stop to help or get into trouble. These kids knew Paige. They knew and loved her. Kids want to know why.

“My granddaughter is 8 years old. This is something that will affect her for the rest of her life. She should not have to carry such pain.”

Palucci said her granddaughter’s issues are just a fraction of what the family has gone through in the aftermath of Donahue’s death.

“My family not only grieves for the loss of Paige, but we grieve for the loss of our former selves. We all have been changed,” Palucci said. “We are shells of our former selves. I will never be the mom, wife or grandmother I was.

Palucci labeled her family’s plight as “pure torture.”

“I have nowhere to run to get rid of these realities,” she said. “The only way that I will rid them is by knowing when I die this nightmare of pain will be over. This is my reality. I am consumed with thoughts about her last moments on earth.”

Palucci said it is hard to fathom that a fatal hit-and-run was reduced to a traffic citation. “It is insane to me that we are expected to believe Tarra Fiedler was not immediately aware of the fact that she ran over a 210-pound girl wearing fluorescent pink clothing and carrying a flashlight,” the Lombard resident said.

She noted that Donahue was one of a kind.

“I want the world to know Paige like we knew her, to see her like we saw her. She was the most unique and the bravest person I have ever known,” Palucci said. “I can promise you anyone who knew her would tell you the same.

“Paige had the joy and innocence of a bright-eyed child. There was a simplicity and purity in her. In other ways, she could outthink and outplay people twice her age. She was a force. If Paige loved you, you had a best friend for life. Paige was loyal, humble and kind. She lived life so big.

“Now, almost two years later, I am still overwhelmed with grief for the agonizing loss of my baby girl.”

The Lombard mother noted that Donahue was to be married four months after the fatal accident in January 2023.

“She was so excited. She planned her wedding like Cinderella’s ball. It was a Cinderella dream. She was so happy,” Palucci said. “I still have the pictures of her trying on her dress. Do you know where her dress is now? In a box, only to remind me how robbed she was of her dream.

“I have her dream in a box and her body in an urn.

“Every morning, I wake up to the cold reality that Paige is still gone. I walk around in a state of panic all the time. The pain is relentless. It feels like someone is gutting my soul, my heart and my body, ripping them out piece by piece. There are moments it hurts so badly I can hardly breathe.”

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com