Mother Calls For Justice After Man Fleeing Police Smashes Into Car, Kills 12-Year-Old Girl
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Pleading for justice. The killer of two young people is still at large. Now city police say catching this suspect is their top priority. The mother of his alleged 12-year-old victim recounts the terrifying night she died.
Mike Hellgren has the latest on the manhunt.
Police have scoured the city for this man with no luck. For that mother, it has been a nightmare.
Shanell Pryor's son holds her as she sobs. The pain of losing her daughter is fresh. Shanizya Taft, who had just turned 12, died Tuesday night when a man fleeing police slammed into her family's minivan.
Pryor was behind the wheel at a stoplight.
"I didn't even see him coming," she said.
In the chaos that followed, a person she considers a hero worked to free them.
"Once he helped me and my youngest daughter get her out, he was determined to get my daughter out of that car," said Pryor.
Police say the day before Shanizya died in the crash on E. Preston Street, the man who caused it murdered a teenager in an armed robbery on Mount Street. That victim—Oscar Torres—was just 15-years-old.
Shanizya's mom is pleading for the suspect's capture.
"I just want somebody to bring my daughter to justice. That's what I want. I'll do interviews all day, every day until he sees my face. And you're going to recognize what he took from me. He took my life," said Pryor.
Authorities deny chasing the man. Pryor feels otherwise.
"Somebody had to be behind you to hit me that hard. You were running from something," she said.
Police have released very little information about the suspect. We do know he's likely injured and that someone is hiding and helping him. Authorities have tested the car he was driving for fingerprints and DNA, but have yet to release a name or a picture.
"The pain that I'm feeling physically is nothing. It's nothing compared to how my heart feels," said Pryor. "He hurt somebody else and then he hurt my child. Who's next?"
There will be a vigil at 8 p.m. for Oscar Torres on S. Mount Street, where he was killed, between Lombard and Hollins streets.
Shanizya Taft's funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.
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