A mom-of-three was killed after riding her illegal ATV down the wrong side of a Philadelphia road – and was left to die of head-trauma by her ‘friends.’ 

Victoria Rose Walker, 29, died Thursday night after her Yamaha ATV – which was unlicensed and not street legal – struck a 2018 Kia Rio. 

She’d been racing down the wrong side of a road as part of an illegal dirt bike and ATV ride, and swerved into the correct lane on seeing an oncoming vehicle.

But Walker clipped a car as she did so, and ended up falling from her ATV, before dying shortly afterwards from massive head-trauma.

It is unclear if she was wearing a helmet at the time.  

None of her fellow riders stayed around to try and help, instead leaving the young mom to die alone while the stricken driver of the Kia which hit her tried to help.   

The driver of the car stayed at the scene, and is not believed to be facing any criminal charges.

Walker shared a photo of herself pulling a wheelie on her ATV on Facebook last month, and captioned it ‘Look ma no hands!’ 

She appeared to be wearing a helmet in that snap. 

Victoria Rose Walker was killed in Philly Friday after she was knocked off her ATV while riding her illegal ATV down a busy road   

The aftermath of the deadly smash is pictured. The driver of the Kia stayed at the scene to try and help Walker, and is not believed to be facing any charges 

Walker shared a snap of herself doing a wheelie on her ATV on Facebook last month, and captioned it ‘Look ma no hands!’ 

Walker was hurt along the 7900 block of State Road close to Rhawn Street in the Holmesburg section of northeast Philadelphia, around 9 p.m. on May 19. 

The area where the crash took place is close to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, reports Fox29.

According to Fox29, Walker was riding with around five other people riding on dirt bikes and ATVs.  

Walker was pronounced dead an hour later at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, the Philadelphia Police Department told DailyMail.com. 

 Walker is survived by three children, two boys and a daughter.  Her youngest child was born in 2019. 

Walker’s ATV was not legally registered or street-legal due to a lack of license plate and turn signals, reports ABC Philadelphia. 

The ABC report says that Walker entered into the northbound lane after she encountered traffic in the southbound lane. 

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told the media in the aftermath of the crash that it’s common for ATV riders to not co-operate with authorities because many do not have driver’s licenses and use non-street legal vehicles.

Walker’s sister said that the entire family is ‘at a loss’ following her tragic death on the night of May 19. She was a mother to three young children, the youngest of whom was three 

Small added: ‘ We see this as the weather gets warmer, these dirt bikes that are not street legal and these quad ATVs, also not street legal, and they’re not registered, and they drive on city streets – the small streets, some of the main thoroughfares.’

Small also said: ‘This is just a tragic accident.’ 

In a tribute that was posted to Instagram, one of Walker’s sisters wrote: ‘I’m just at a loss for words today so this is all I have to say for the moment. This is my awesome baby sister Victoria Walker, she just turned 29 last month, she has 3 kids and an entire family at a loss because she’s gone because of a stupid ATV accident. She’s gone!!!’

Social media posts show that Walker married a man named Wanderson Mendonca in October 2018. It’s unclear if the couple was still together at the time of her death.

In 2021, the city of Philadelphia passed a law allowing police to confiscate illegal ATVs and dirt bikes

Philadelphia has been plagued by illegal dirt bike races in recent months. 

In May 2022, Pennsylvania State Representative Joanna McClinton told ABC Philadelphia that action needed to be taken against illegal ATVs and dirt bikes. 

McClinton said: ‘They are unregulated. There’s no way to inspect them. There’s not a special licensing for them, and we get inundated with the danger that comes along with those activities.’

While Philadelphia Police Accident Investigation Division Captain Mark Overwise said: ‘They crash into each other, let alone crash into somebody else just walking along… and when you are riding along with no protection, no helmet, you can get seriously injured.’ 

Walker wrote in the caption of this 2021 photo: ‘Unlocked a side of me I didn’t even know I had’

 McClinton went on to say that she was hopeful that new legislation could be forthcoming as a means to curtailing the presence of illegal ATVs and dirt bikes on the Philadelphia’s streets. 

This time last year, the Philadelphia City Council voted to amend to traffic laws, meaning that cops could now confiscate illegal bikes and ATVs from riders, reports NBC Philadelphia.   

An anonymous ATV rider told the station: ‘I’ve been doing this for years. This is my stress reliever. I’m not going to stop. I’m never going to stop.’ He added that if the police took away his ride, he’d simply go and buy another.

Walker’s death is the second on Philadelphia’s streets in a matter of days due to an illegal street vehicle. 

On May 15, Jesus Gomez Rosario was killed while riding his skateboard when he was hit by a person on a dirt bike. The biker was doing wheelies and driving at a ‘high rate of speed’ when the crash occurred, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

The rider of the dirt bike is still at large at the time of writing.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has struggled to control the city’s spiraling homicide rate

 These incidents come as Philadelphia authorities struggle to deal with the city’s rising homicide rate. 

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw blamed and unstaffed police department in an interview with NPR. 

Outlaw also said: ‘The truth is the homicides are not happening in a vacuum – there are those out there who are determined to attack and kill their victims. While we are making constant adjustments to mitigate this sickening reality, our officers, simply put, just can’t keep up by being everywhere at all times.’

According to police stats, there have been 180 homicides so far this year in Philadelphia. That’s the highest they’ve been in all but one of the last 15 years.