'This Was Not A Joke:' N.J. Dad's Video Cry For Help After Daughter's Fatal Bridge Fall

The police and some friends didn't want to say why she died. But Ronstin Smith felt he had to.

Smith, whose friends call him Aaron, felt it was time to be clear why his 15-year-old daughter from New Jersey fell from a Garden State Parkway overpass and landed in traffic.

It was her choice, he said.

Now, he doesn't want it to happen to anybody else.

"We are willing to speak about Eva and her struggle as a way to help others avoid this kind of tragedy," Smith said in an interview with Patch.

Smith even posted a Facebook video just hours following her death after she was hit by a car on Friday night in the middle of oncoming traffic.

In the video, Smith, his voice shaky, talked about how his daughter ran away from home. It was 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, three hours after Eva was killed.

His daughter dealt with depression, he said. Smith wanted people to take him seriously. "This was not a joke," he said. "I'm not making this up. I'm not doing this for attention."

When he was younger, Smith dealt with depression. He almost killed himself.

"Someone in your life is hurting," he said in the video. "Someone in your life is going through something and needs help. Help them. Don't ignore what's going on in that person's life."

Eva's gone, he said. For Smith, this was the last remaining way he could help his daughter.

"I didn't post the video looking for sympathy," said Smith, of Bloomfield. "But I realized last night that I would never be able to help my daughter."

Police declined to identify the reason for the death, saying it was under investigation. But Bloomfield High School did publish information on Twitter that drew a lot of criticism:

The 15-year-old girl fell from the overpass at 10:37 p.m. Friday on Parkway southbound at milepost 151.5, just as cars were approaching, according to police.

The girl was hit by a 2010 Mazda in the Nutley area.

Smith, meanwhile, embraced the publicity, saying it was time to deal with the "disease" of depression in a public way.

"I told the people I thought they needed to hear it from my mouth when I found out, and I really wasn't thinking about anyone except myself, my wife, Eva's mother and stepfather," he wrote on Facebook. "I hope I didn't offend anyone. If I did, whatever."

Photo courtesy of Eva Smith's family