Girl, 5, injured in hit-and-run crash while crossing Minneapolis street
Shauntia Smith, 5, was injured in a hit-and-run crash in Minneapolis this weekend. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A kindergartener in Minneapolis didn't make to the park to play on Sunday because of a hit-and-run driver. The girl instead is spending this week in the hospital.
“She’s not herself, but she’s trying, she’s pushing through,” said Kenita White, Shauntia’s mother.
Stepping out of Hennepin County Medical Center, five-year-old Shauntia Smith is proving she may be tiny, but she is tough.
Sunday while crossing East Franklin Avenue near Chicago Avenue on her way to Peavey Park with her two older sisters, Shauntia was suddenly hit by a car, which never stopped.
“They said she hit the car hard, she came up on the hood of the car and came back off and hit the ground really hard,” said White.
Shauntia was knocked unconscious and spent a couple days in the ICU. Bumps, bruises and scrapes cover her body. Her mom, says doctors will continue to monitor a head injury.
“I’m very blessed she’s alive,” said White.
Minneapolis police say they’ve spent the last four days looking through surveillance video from the area. The description they have to look for is pretty vague - a grey vehicle.
“I’m so angry and so upset, frustrated because I have to listen to my daughter and those little cries, like she never cried like that before in her life,” said White. “And to listen to those cries for days was excruciating pain for me and her father.”
The psychological toll and feelings of guilt are also weighing heavy on Shauntia’s nine-year-old and 15-year-old sisters who were the closest witnesses. White believes all three of her daughters could have been killed and hopes the driver realizes the lasting impacts leaving the scene is taking on the entire family.
“He didn’t try to see was she ok?” said White. “Once the car collided with her, time was critical. You didn’t try to do nothing. You just kept going. This is someone’s kid. You hit a five-year-old kid.”