A lifetime of hopes and dreams erased in a matter of seconds after a hit-and-run driver mowed down 9-year-old Amirah Kinlaw as school let out at Steuart Hill Academy in Southwest Baltimore.
Ultimately, a 14-year-old boy was charged as a juvenile in the case.
"There were a lot of kids out here who were making their way home... parents who were picking their children up," said Det. Moses of the Baltimore City Police Department after the crash on June 16, 2016.
A central point in a lawsuit, which now challenges the actions of a police officer who first spotted the stolen vehicle prompting the suspect to flee at a high-rate of speed.
"It wasn't even a real car chase,” a witness, Jessie Dyer, told us the following day. “The police officer just turned on her lights and started to do a U-turn and then the guy just took off through the intersection with no regard to who was there or what was in his way."
Matthew Bennett is the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Amirah's mother.
"It's exceptionally dangerous to engage in that type of conduct when you're two blocks from a school zone,” said Bennett. “So I think the better practice is let the stolen car go, deal with whatever issues you can deal with later, but do not engage in any conduct that would encourage or lead to a chase in or near a school zone and that's the crux of the case."
The suit names police officer Aisha White-Bey and alleges she went a step further, operating her patrol car at a high rate of speed, ignoring the department's protocols with reckless disregard for human life.
It is a different account of what happened in the moments leading up to the young girl's death with little mention of the young teen who was behind the wheel of the vehicle, which killed her.
"There may be other insurance money from his insurance company or his parents' insurance company,” said Bennett. “I can tell you there's another lawyer working on that part of the case, and so he's not getting off scot-free from the civil case."
In addition to being compensated financially for the loss of her daughter, the mother's attorney says she also wants full disclosure when it comes to the facts surrounding the crash that took her life.
