A Missouri high schooler was killed after being hit by a police car while authorities claimed she died in a hit-and-run accident, her devastated family claimed.
Persephone Berger, 16, was lying in the road when she was struck by a St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office vehicle at around 3:45 a.m. Saturday, KMOV reported.
Berger was heading to her Park Hills home after she had snuck out to a party the previous night when a witness found her in the road and reported the discovery to cops.
“While approaching [the scene], the Deputy did not see the [girl] in the roadway and subsequently struck [her],” Sheriff Jeff Crites said in a statement.
It’s unclear why Berger ended up in the road but her dad, Jarred Berger, was initially told by law enforcement his daughter died in a hit-and-run, according to her aunt, Kimberly Cabuchola.
A preliminary autopsy found her injuries were “consistent with those sustained from the responding Deputy’s vehicle,” authorities said.
Cabuchola admitted “accidents happen” and revealed she wouldn’t have been angry towards the driver, who is around 23 and had worked for the department for around three months, if the sheriff’s office had been transparent.
“All they had to do was say ‘Our officer accidentally ran over your child and she died,’” the bewildered relative told KMOV. “That’s all they had to do. But no.”
“To try and cover it up and to lie to our family? Why? Why would they need to do that? We could have forgiven that officer.”
However, Cabuchola ripped the sheriff’s office for being slow to contact Berger’s father.
“The lies… not calling the right people in,” she blasted. “Not reaching out to my brother for three days. That wasn’t an accident.
“The only [person] that contacted him within that three-day [period] was the coroner, to tell us that she was so badly mangled that we needed to have a closed coffin for her.”
“I want to go over to that county jail and tell them, you know. I want to scream and I want to cuss at them. But I know I can’t. I know I can’t. Just tell us the truth.”
Crites has been tight-lipped over the claims she was killed in a hit-and-run as he wasn’t the responding officer.
Authorities are still awaiting the results of toxicology tests, and an independent investigation is set to be carried out by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Investigators are also waiting for her autopsy results; meanwhile tributes have been paid to the teen – who has been described as an “avid Harry Potter fan” by her family.
“Throughout her years, Persephone blossomed into a caring and compassionate young woman, always ready with a smile and a kind word for everyone she met,” they said in an obit. “A passionate member of her school choir since fifth grade, she filled the halls with her beautiful voice and infectious enthusiasm.
“She had an outgoing spirit and was affectionately known as a social butterfly, radiating warmth and kindness to those around her. In her free time, Persephone loved to embark on hikes and engage with nature, cherishing the adventures she shared with her friends and family.”
Her sister, Allison Berger, described the Harry Potter fan as someone who was “exciting” and “so full of life.”
“I love you so much Persephone and we miss you more than you would ever even imagine,” she wrote online on Saturday.
Students at Berger’s school, West County High School, wore pink on Monday and hundreds of mourners attended a vigil.
“She was just a really lively, understanding person. She never judged a soul. Like, she was just a really sweet person,” Emma Houser said, revealing the atmosphere in school was “so dull” following her death.
“She felt kind of like an older sister and like someone you can lean on and talk to about anything,” she said.
Riley Skaggs, one of Berger’s pals, described her as someone who was “fun, loving [and] very smart.”
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