C.W. Jefferys community grieving after student killed by truck

WATCH: More than six years after the tragic death of Jordan Manners, another young life is lost at the Toronto school. Mark McAllister reports.

TORONTO – The community and students of C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute are grieving again after a grade 10 student was struck by a truck and killed on her way to school.

And it’s not the first time, the northwest Toronto school has been at the heart of tragedy over the last decade.

Violet Jia Liang was on her way to school just before 8 a.m. Tuesday when a truck turning left at the intersection of Sentinal Road and Lamberton Boulevard struck and killed her.

Students at the high school were wearing purple in tribute to Violet on Wednesday – what would have been her 15^th birthday.

“It’s very sad that she lost her life at such a young age, she was the kindest person I know,” said classmate Aaliyah Grant before class Wednesday morning. “She’s also a singer, she has a very nice voice, and we were planning to do an item for that talent show.”

But it is not the first time C.W. Jerfferys Collegiate Institute has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

In 2007, 15-year-old Jordan Manners was shot and killed in the school’s hallway.

Two 17-year-olds were arrested and charged in connection to his death. They were both found not guilty of murder on May 19, 2011.

“It is unnerving,” a nearby resident who did not want to give his name. “I’ve lived in a lot of places in Canada and it’s the first community where this amount has happened in such a short period of time.”

One year later, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student was stabbed in the stomach.

The incidents are not related, but Brian Flaco, who lives near the school, said it’s tragic to lose any child.

– With files from Mark McAllister