Daniel Riley, a St. Louis criminal who was out on bond for a felony robbery crashed into 17-year-old Janae Edmonson, leaving her permanently paralyzed in both legs. Edmonson, a volleyball player who had just received a scholarship to play at UT Southern, received a double amputation as a result of the crash.
During the evening of Feb 20th, 21-year-old Riley was illegally operating a vehicle without a license and speeding through downtown St. Louis when he crashed into another vehicle. Edmonson, a Tennessee resident who was in St. Louis for a volleyball tournament, was walking down the street with her parents when the crash left her pinned between two cars.
Riley was an armed robbery suspect and has violated his house arrest several times. According to KMOV4, he was later arrested “for three counts of assault, armed criminal action, and operating a vehicle without a valid license.” Police state that he was driving 20 miles over the limit. He had also received a violation of his bond, for a prior felony robbery, just five days prior to the crash.
After the crash, Edmonson’s mother and father fought to keep her alive as they waited for paramedics, with her father using his belt and the belt of a stranger as a tourniquet for his daughter’s legs. Edmonson was put on a ventilator and it was just this week that her parents broke the news to her that she no longer had her legs.
Just two weeks ago she had received a scholarship to UT Southern, with the head volleyball coach sharing that they are still going to honor her scholarship and she will still be a part of the team. The community has also rallied behind Edmonson and a GoFundMe has been set up and has raised over $650,000.
Many are pointing to St. Louis District Attorney, Kim Gardner, for her handling of this situation and calling out her office for the soft-on-crime policies that led to Edmonson losing her legs.
Riley, who had previously violated conditions of his bond over 40 times, was out on bond for a felony robbery the day he hit Edmonson.
Gardner has since deflected blame onto the judge who granted Riley bond after the Mayor of St. Louis criticized Garnder’s office sharing that, “Some improvements need to be made,” per NBC’s 5 On Your Side. Gardner has refused to take responsibility for the events that led up to this horrific incident and has since used the tragedy to label herself the victim and blame racism for the public criticism of her office.
