Girl Killed in Accident at Washington Middle School

 It's a sad announcement to make. 

The driver of a vehicle that rolled downhill, hitting and killing a 12-year-old girl by her Central District middle school, has not been arrested.

The Washington Middle School student was standing on the sidewalk and was going to recess with other classmates Thursday afternoon when the empty SUV rolled about 75 yards downhill and fatally struck her.

“We believe that the vehicle was rolling backward, the driver having failed to place it completely in park,” Seattle Police Department Assistant Chief Todd Kibbee said outside the school on Thursday. “This is obviously a tragic situation for the community here.”

About 60 students held a “memorial walk” in their classmate’s memory outside of Washington Middle School on Friday, according to the district. Superintendent Brent Jones and School Board President Gina Topp also visited teachers, staff and students, and counseling and other mental health support services were made available. The assistance and additional resources will continue next week, the district said.

It's a bit confusing to me why the car went so far and yet the driver could not put on the emergency brake. 

No matter what, it's a tragic loss for that community. 


Comments

Anonymous said…
Wasn’t the car empty?

NESeamom
3/9/25, 10:37 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
I didn't see that but even if so, how can you get a key out of a modern car without it being in park? I have a very old car and my car will not let me have the key out unless it is in park. And how did the driver not engage the emergency brake on a hill?
3/10/25, 9:13 AM
Anonymous said…
I hope SPS will do a safety analysis of their students' pathways to recess and to any drop-off lanes. This is such a sad story. Horribly sad.

I don't know about the car or the driver, but I did that once 25 years ago. My young toddler had fallen asleep in the back seat car seat. I carried her in to her crib and stood at the window to check the answering machine, and saw my car (I think it was an automatic car) roll towards the ravine embankment. It was stopped by a big tree. My purse was still in the car. AAA wouldn't connect the tow hook until I could show him my ID and AAA card so I had to climb in and grab the purse. I must have been distracted or sleep-deprived to not put it in park and not put the parking brake on. Luckily there was a big tree a few feet away in my case.

NESea mom
3/10/25, 11:38 AM
Anonymous said…
My 7-year-old car has a keyfob that unlocks the ignition and start button, no key to insert. So it's habits: Put transmission in park or lowest available gear AND set the parking brake, always. And if you're on a hill curb your wheels so that if the car rolls, it rolls into the curb rather than down the hill. Driver's ed in the S.F. Bay Area when I was growing up emphasized these things, because of the steep hills in S.F. It seems to be deemphasized here, which is too bad because there are steep hills here too.

- Patrick
3/10/25, 11:27 PM
Anonymous said…
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/exclusive-parents-speak-out-after-middle-school-student-killed-by-runaway-car/YYCRXZ7L2FGBPENGN2DXFQ4QNQ/

Supe Jones was talking to a local media reporter but hasn't reached out to the grieving family? Is this real?

Raging Fakequity
3/12/25, 4:45 PM
Anonymous said…
In the paper today, it says officials from the school and Brent Jones didn't reach out to the family for a week. For such a tragedy that is egregious.

Where's the compassion
3/14/25, 7:41 AM
Anonymous said…
After crash kills Washington Middle School student, parents seek answers

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/after-crash-kills-washington-middle-school-student-parents-seek-answers/

NESeamom
3/14/25, 8:54 AM
Anonymous said…
Patrick, I agree with you about always putting car in park, setting brake, turning wheels. I don't want to in any way excuse the woman who didn't do those basic things that are part of the responsibility of driving. And if I were signed in with my profile, I would actually delete my old story when my car rolled and didn't cause any problem. The Seattle Times interview with the father of the girl expresses all my questions. Why could the students go out that way to recess?
NESeamom
3/14/25, 11:59 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Nepotism in Seattle Schools

Update: Following a scandal at Aki Kurose Middle School, apparently the district has pulled the principal, Caine Lowery who leaves Aki for a promotion to Central Office to support/train/guide principals. Hmm. I also note that former Rainier View Elementary principal Anitra Jones, who was removed from that school, still doesn't show up on the staff roster at Rainier Beach High School where it was stated she would be. Where is she? Who knows?  end of update   This is going to be a difficult post to write because it is sad to see what looks like a norm now at JSCEE. The norm I speak of is largely an occurrence with principals as well as JSCEE senior staff. I also know that this is not going to surprise most who works at JSCEE. The norm I'm referring to is the one where some personnel have personal connections within the district that sees them moving between jobs and even getting promoted based on those relationships. In short, nepotism.  This district is risk-adverse wh...
Read more