The family of the victim who was hit and critically injured by 7- and 4-year-old brothers who took their parents’ car in Oakland on Thursday says she is fighting for her life.
Kiara Darvonne Bowling’s aunt and cousin spoke with ABC7 Eyewitness News Friday afternoon and said her long-term prognosis is unclear right now.
Bowling suffered multiple facial fractures, a brain bleed and internal bleeding after being run over Thursday on 35th Avenue while she was walking her friend’s dog.
Her family says she is in her last semester at California State University – East Bay and was applying to go to law school.
They are now asking for prayers as Bowling continues to recover in the hospital after multiple surgeries.
Bowling was crossing the street when the white sedan the boys were in came speeding down 35th Avenue before hitting her, according to witness accounts and surveillance video from the scene.
“It was loud,” witness Lavelle Shah-Marquis said. “I pray that she’s okay, but it was bad, it was bad,” he added.
Oakland police said 7-year-old and 4-year-old brothers took their parents’ Toyota while they were sleeping and went for a drive. The crash happened several blocks from their home.
The incident has raised questions about who could be held responsible. “Unfortunately, I think these parents need to be held responsible and that was my main concern was these parents need to be held responsible. This is ridiculous,” Shah-Marquis said.
Legal analyst and former prosecutor Steven Clark said the situation is highly unusual. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s just such a one off,” Clark said.
“The law doesn’t have an exact remedy for this,” he added. Clark said that while the act itself could be considered a crime, the age of the child involved makes criminal accountability unlikely. “It is a crime that the seven-year-old committed, but we’re not going to put a seven-year-old in juvenile hall,” Clark said.
Oakland police are questioning the parents and said they are cooperating with the investigation.
“What was the level of supervision of these kids? How did they get access to the vehicle?” Clark said. “I’ve seen that in other cases where you rely on social workers, not prosecutors.”
Clark said he believes a civil case is likely but criminal charges are not. “This isn’t like leaving a gun around for a kid. This is an automobile that we use every day, and this is the kind of thing that you’re used to just leaving your car keys out,” he said.
Experts also said responsibility should not be placed on the children because of their ages and developmental abilities.
“These kids are not capable, at this age, of understanding the consequences of what they did,” said Dr. Shivani Chmura, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. “It’s like they can see that they push the first domino, but they cannot see any of the other ones after that that would fall.”
She said the children should be protected from blame. “I would recommend counseling for them. Otherwise, they could end up with very lifelong symptoms of shame,” Chmura said.
Calling the situation tragic, Chmura said, “My heart goes out to the whole situation. It’s tragic.”
The woman’s dog ran away after the crash, police say, and it was unclear Thursday whether the animal had been found.
According to the boys’ uncle, the 7-year-old broke both his legs and the 4-year-old sustained a concussion. Both are recovering in the hospital.
Bowling’s family has set up a GoFundeMe website to help with ongoing medical costs.
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