16-year-old Persephone Berger was hit and killed by a St. Francois County deputy. Her family says they spent days believing it was a hit-and-run
EDIT/UPDATE: There has been a ton of confusion around this, including in my original post, so I want to clarify some things after a journalist spoke with the alleged eyewitnesses.
According to them, the deputy was pursuing a truck with a taillight out without lights or sirens. The truck turned off and “got away,” but the deputy allegedly continued at a high rate of speed while abandoning the pursuit and struck Persephone. They claim he then left the scene without rendering first aid.
The witnesses reportedly live right there and have surveillance footage showing portions of what happened before and after. The journalist believes they may know the driver of the truck, which could explain how they knew about the taillight.
The official account says someone found Persephone, called 911 and waited with her with their hazards on. The journalist says no one has been able to locate this person and is asking them to come forward. The witnesses claim nobody was there with hazards on.
I’m posting this because it’s happening just south of St. Louis and I don’t think it’s getting nearly enough attention.
Early Saturday morning around 3:45, 16-year-old Persephone Berger was killed on Davis Crossing Road in St. Francois County.
Her family believed she had been the victim of a hit-and-run. Her mom was posting on Facebook asking anyone with cameras or information to contact the sheriff’s department because they were trying to find out who hit her daughter.
Then people who live on Davis Crossing started contacting the family and telling them it was actually a sheriff’s deputy. The sheriff has now confirmed that.
According to the department’s statement, the deputy was responding to a call about an unresponsive person lying in the roadway. They say he saw the caller’s vehicle with its hazards on but didn’t see Persephone and hit her.
The sheriff says the deputy immediately notified his supervisor, meaning the department knew Saturday morning that one of their vehicles had hit her. But her family says they spent the next several days believing they were looking for a hit-and-run driver.
There are also people who live on that road making claims that don’t match the sheriff’s version. One person contacted the family saying there were multiple witnesses and that the deputy was going extremely fast. There are also claims that he had been pursuing another vehicle. The sheriff denies there was a pursuit and denies that the deputy left the scene, so those parts are obviously disputed.
The department investigated it themselves Saturday. Their statement says Highway Patrol was consulted Sunday. After Monday’s preliminary autopsy confirmed her injuries were caused by the deputy’s vehicle, MSHP was asked to take over the crash investigation.
She was 16. Her family deserves an independent investigation and a clear explanation of what happened.