Ainslie O’Neil was killed in December 2022 when she was struck by a driver while crossing Federal Boulevard on West 35th Avenue.
By Nathaniel Minor, Denverite
Ainslie O’Neil grew up near bicycles. Her mother, Cindy Stepp, would haul Ainslie and her siblings to work with her in a bike trailer. O’Neil soon graduated to her own bicycle, and stayed on one for years.
“She didn’t just do it because it was transportation,” Stepp said. “She did it because she loved it. She was an active girl and we rode together frequently. I got an e-bike finally because I couldn’t keep up with her anymore.”
O’Neil would ride year-round. On a sunny Sunday in December 2022, she was riding to her mother’s house in east Denver. She told Stepp she’d be there between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. so they could walk their dogs together before a family dinner.
But by 5 p.m., O’Neil had not yet arrived.
“I had a very, very bad feeling,” Stepp said.
Stepp checked her location on her cell phone — it showed O’Neil as being at a police station in downtown Denver. She sent her son, who lived nearby, to the station to check. Shortly after, a squad car dropped him at her front door.
“He walked into my kitchen and he just crumpled,” Stepp said. “I knew what had happened. I don’t think he told me. I said to him, ‘She’s dead, isn’t she?’”
Stepp soon learned the basic outline of what happened. O’Neil was crossing Federal Boulevard on West 35th Avenue when a driver struck her. The driver was a juvenile and was charged with careless driving that resulted in death, records show.