Dallas police arrest suspect in hit-and-run death of 6-year-old girl
DALLAS – Dallas police have arrested the driver they say struck and killed a 6-year-old girl late Sunday and drove off.
David Polley, 67, is charged with collision involving death.
On Feb. 16, DPD said officers responded to Belt Line Road near Preston Road in Far North Dallas just before 10:30 p.m.
DPD did not release the victim's name, but her family has identified her as Destiny Wright. Her grandmother, Mary Friday, told CBS News Texas that Destiny was autistic.
Around 10 p.m. Sunday, the girl's grandfather left to get some snacks at a nearby store, according to Friday. She said she wonders whether Destiny saw her grandpa leave and tried to follow, as they used to walk to the store together often.
When the family realized Destiny was not at home, they started to search for her, Friday said. Soon after, the grandfather found Destiny in the street and began CPR in an attempt to save her.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business showed Destiny running from an apartment complex onto Belt Line Road. Some vehicles were able to avoid hitting her, but a white, newer model Acura MDX struck the girl in the street.
Paramedics took Destiny to a hospital where she died.
Police said the suspect pulled into an adjacent parking lot and then fled the scene without helping the girl. A report from Dallas police states that surveillance footage from several businesses on Belt Line Road showed the suspect vehicle traveling westbound until the Dallas North Tollway. A warrant was issued for the tollway gantry and the vehicle registered to Polley was identified.
DPD said detectives then found Polley's associates and, while conducting a drive-by in Lewisville, drove past Polley as he pulled a white Acura into the driveway of one associate. The detectives said they noticed front-end damage "consistent with a pedestrian strike."
As detectives watched the house, they received a phone call from defense attorney Ann Marie Gillespie. She said she was representing Polley, who had admitted to driving the suspect vehicle and wanted to turn himself in.
The Friday family recently moved to Dallas from Mississippi, and was about to move to Frisco to be close to a school with better programs for autistic children, Friday said.
"We were trying to give her the best life we could," Friday said.
