The family of a little girl who was killed after she was hit by a vehicle in 2016 says they were devastated after police inadvertently released a statement to the media saying that one of the parents waved the vehicle through the intersection just before the fatal collision.

Avayah Toulon, 4, was hit by a truck while crossing the street at 79 Street and 47 Avenue N.W. on May 6, at about 8:00 p.m. The little girl was treated at the scene but died from her injuries.

The family was walking home from the river and say they were only a block away from home when the tragedy happened.

Tanis Lambert, 39, was behind the wheel of the F150 and was charged with careless driving and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

The charges were dropped against Lambert in October of this year after the court determined that there was conflicting evidence in the case.

At the time, police said that a witness told them that one of the parents waved the vehicle through the intersection before the crash.

On Wednesday, police issued a retraction saying that the witness account was released to the media without verification and that the investigation was unable to confirm or trace the information.

Craig Toulon, Avayah’s father, says he hasn't been able to work since his daughter's death and that the trial created more pain for his family.

“I’m struggling to sleep, I’m struggling to eat. I find myself getting very anxious from the time I wake up to the time I try to go to sleep,” said Craig. “I feel more tired now because, just mentally, I can’t drop what happened here and I just keep replay, replay, replay.”

The family says public speculation about the circumstances surrounding Avayah’s death has hurt them and hindered their ability to heal.

“The statement said that I waved the vehicle through the intersection while my other children were still on the road. After hearing that, number one, I had a baby in my arms at the time and number two, I would never wave a vehicle through any intersection while my children are still on the road. It literally brought me to my knees. I was beyond devastated because then I was to blame in people’s eye,” said Samantha Toulon. “We walk that way all the time and to have people think that we weren’t watching our children, that our children were messing about near a main road, to have that picture painted of us was devastating.”

The Calgary Police Service apologized for releasing the information but the family says they feel let down by the system.

“Our family is pleased that the City of Calgary police department has apologized for the release of false information to the press in the days following the death of our beloved daughter, Avayah. My wife and I, as well as our children, were all at the scene and witnessed what happened. Lies about what happened, just further deepens our grief. We will, however, continue to struggle with the grief of our loss. Our family has been involved in counselling for nearly a year and a half in an attempt to deal with the devastation that we have suffered,” said Craig. “It’s unbelievable that any professional body can release such a harmful statement without knowing even who said this.”

“We feel as a family, very let down. Since this happened our whole family has been judged on what has been said. Anybody that knows us, knows different, but not everybody knows us so it’s hard, it’s hard to enjoy life with our children now. We’re scared all the time,” said Samantha.

Stephen Nelson is representing the family in a civil lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle and says he hopes to get compensation for the family for lost wages and bereavement.

“We’ve commenced an action under the Fatal Accidents Act for bereavement as well as an action for negligent infliction of emotional distress, which is a separate cause of action,” said Nelson. “We’re actually at the pre-questioning period in the litigation, which means that we still have quite a ways to go to get to trial, it would be years and years, but we’re hopeful that we can resolve the matter out of court and quite frankly, we’re hopeful that it can resolve fairly quickly out of court.”

The Toulons say their lives were forever changed that day in May and that the community has been very supportive since the tragedy.

“Thank you to the good people who have helped us so far and the support that we’ve had,” said Craig.

“We now know the value and the true meaning of community. Our community from the day this happened have stood by us 1000 percent. We again can’t thank our children’s schools, our friends and family, it’s been phenomenal how much they have stood and still continue to stand by us,” said Samantha.

Nelson says they still have not decided if they will pursue legal actions against any other parties.