Feldman Shepherd has lost one of its most beloved clients. The people of Philadelphia have lost a tireless advocate for safe streets with a special emphasis on Roosevelt Boulevard.
On June 17, 2025, Latanya Byrd — who was a co-founder of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of Families for Safe Streets and a driving force behind the creation and expansion of the automated speed camera program on Roosevelt Boulevard — died after a brief illness. She was 58.
Latanya and her family came to Feldman Shepherd after her niece, Samara Banks, and her three young children, were struck and killed by a speed-racing driver in 2013 while attempting to cross Roosevelt Boulevard. It was a preventable tragedy caused, in part, by a defective and dangerous road design which gave pedestrians, like Samara Banks, a false assurance that they could safely cross at a location that was unsafe. The loss of Samara Banks and her children brought the Boulevard’s pedestrian toll to more than 20 dead and 130 struck in five years.
While it would have been easy (and understandable) for Latanya to retreat into her grief, she chose instead to work to prevent other families from suffering tragedies similar to her own. Her advocacy helped lead to a pilot program in 2020 in which speed cameras were installed on the Boulevard. Following their installation, speeding violations decreased by over 95 percent, fatal and serious injury crashes decreased by 21 percent, and crashes involving pedestrians decreased by 50 percent. The cameras are estimated to have saved one life every month. In 2023, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a law that made the cameras permanent and expanded the program to five additional high-speed corridors.
Latanya also played a key role in the development of Philadelphia’s $134 million “Route for Change” project, which aims to make traffic safety improvements to the full-length of the Boulevard by 2029. In 2024, the project received a $78 million federal grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Also in 2024, Latanya joined senior Biden administration members at the White House Equity Summit, where she discussed how the administration’s equity agenda impacted infrastructure projects around the country and made the case for a continued focus on equity in roadway safety.
As painful as it must have been to spend more than a decade re-telling the story of a crash that divided her life into before and after, Latanya never wavered from her commitment to humanize the cold statistics of traffic violence, to offer compassion and a path forward for victims and their families, and to bring about systemic change that can save lives.
One such change was at the crosswalk where Samara Banks and her children died. As a result of the family’s lawsuit, safety improvements were made to the accident site, and the new crossing is named “Banks Way.”
The last time that we at Feldman Shepherd saw Latanya was four months before her death. She visited us at the office and spoke passionately about what she and other traffic safety advocates had accomplished and the important work that lies ahead.
Latanya was the epitome of grace, courage and determination in the face of the most devastating loss imaginable. Her impact touched the lives of countless people in Philadelphia and across the country, whether they are survivors of traffic violence, families who lost loved ones, or people who simply want to be safe in their day-to-day activities on the streets.
John M. Dodig and Jason A. Daria, at Feldman Shepherd, who represented Latanya’s family in their lawsuit, consider themselves fortunate to have known Latanya and offer their heartfelt condolences to Latanya’s family, friends and the many community members who all will miss her.