A 15-year-old girl from Washington state intentionally rammed a jogger with a borrowed car and sped off, killing him on the spot. Reportedly, the girl laughed while narrating the incident to a friend later.
On July 18, the King County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call of a hit-and-run crash and found a 53-year-old man dead near the roadside.
According to authorities, Kasama Z. Smith, 15, was driving a 2004 Toyota Camry, which she stole from her godmother around 6 a.m.
A friend was riding with Smith and told police the car was approaching a man running on the side of the road when Smith said, “I’m going to scare him, I’m going to bump him,” the Kent Reporter stated.
When the killing took place, a friend of Smith was following the Camry in another car. She reportedly heard a loud sound and then saw “saw something fly into the air”, she told reporters. Hours later, Moore was found at the spot in a ditch in front of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, lying dead and without shoes.
Smith has been slapped with second-degree murder and hit-and-run charges. Moore’s wife is enraged that Smith is being tried as a teen and not an adult.
“A family member (of the suspect) heard the individual laugh about the way Greg’s body flew up in the air when she hit him,” Michelle Moore said. She further said that since the car was doing 50 mph, calling the impact a “bump” is an understatement, and wrong. “It’s a ‘thrill kill’ is what it’s called,” Moore said.
She had set up a website to find Smith and offered a reward of $35,000. A GoFundMe page was created after the incident, and more than $44,000 was raised of the $100,000 goal when this report was published.
Smith allegedly took her godmother’s car and killed Moore, but later lied to the car’s owner, claiming that she never even drove it. She said someone damaged the car with a bat. Reportedly, Smith spent several weeks following the murder in fear and concern, worried that friends might “snitch on her”.
When Smith’s godmother watched surveillance footage of the car, she immediately recognized it as hers and approached the authorities. Smith, accompanied by her father, later turned herself in.
Smith faces up to 28 years behind bars if she is found guilty of the charges against her. Prosecutors are still working out a plea deal with Smith’s defense team.
Now Moore’s wife is hoping that the Washington justice system can get justice for her deceased husband, who was out jogging for his health when the teenager used her car to end his life.
Sources: AWM, Kent Reporter, The Seattle Times
