Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - HIT-AND-RUN COWARD Mows Hero Boy Down Dead

Episode Date: October 26, 2022

A 13-year-old Long Island boy dies after being struck by a hit-and-run driver. The teen dived to push his older sister out of the vehicle’s path.   Tyler Phillips was walking with his 14-year-old sibling, returning from a nearby park, when they were hit by a vehicle with its lights turned off.  The suspected vehicle was a dark-colored 2005 to 2009 Chevrolet Equinox. Authorities say there should be damage to the front passenger mirror, a side-view front passenger mirror, and the passenger headlight.   Phillips just turned 13 the day before he was hit.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Wendy Patrick - California prosecutor, author “Red Flags” www.wendypatrickphd.com 'Today with Dr. Wendy' on KCBQ in San Diego, Twitter: @WendyPatrickPHD Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA, AngelaArnoldMD.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital, Voted "My Buckhead's Best Psychiatric Practice of 2022" Robert Farley - Former Detective, Cook County Sheriff's Police Department (Chicago, IL), Deputy United States Marshal, Commanding Officer, Child Exploitation Unit, Consultant in Crimes Against Children, Farley International, farleyintl.com Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), Lecturer: University of Texas and Texas A&M, Affiliated Faculty: University of Texas Medical Branch Dorian Geiger - National Crime Reporter/Editor, Oxygen True Crime, (New York, NY), DorianGeiger.contently.com, Twitter: @dgeigs, Instagram: @DorianGeiger See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Do you have children? I've got two, and they're twins, boy, girl, John David and Lucy Lynch. I want to tell you about they're twins, boy, girl, John David and Lucy Lynch. I want to tell you about another little boy, 13. His name, Tyler Phillips. A speeding SUV comes barreling down the road.

He and his sister, walking in the lane for bikes see it coming. Tyler risks his own life and dives in front of his sister to save her. The SUV plows him down, mows over the little boy, and keeps going. We want justice.

This little boy that saved his sister's life is dead. But the hunt for his killer is very much alive. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Listen to this. He's my hero. Anguished cries from the mother of 13 year old tyler phillips

left for dead at the side of a quorum rode by a driver who fled the scene he has no brain function he's gone tyler's organs are being donated word of the tragedy posted on the william floyd school district website where he was a student in the middle school. He played football for William Floyd. He was a good kid. I miss my baby. Tyler was walking home from a neighborhood park with his sister on Granny Road along the bicycle path. It was 7 25 p.m. Wednesday when police say the siblings were hit from behind. Tyler tried to push his older sister Crystal Randolph out of harm's way. You were just hearing from our friends at WCBS2. Now take a listen to WNBC4.

Tyler's sister, Crystal, also 13, was walking home with him last night along Granny Road in Medford towards Route 112 when they were struck. Crystal says her brother saved her life. He saved my life. What do you mean? He's a hero. And he'll always be a hero. The car hit her first and then ended up, like, I guess he went to go jump and grab her He saved my life. What do you mean? He's a hero. And he'll always be a hero. The car hit her first and then ended up, like, I guess he went to go jump and grab her. And it just took him.

She said she watched him fly into the middle of the street and she pulled him out the street. She called the ambulance. They told her to give him CPR. And that was it. Joining me, an all-star panel of guests to make sense of what we know right now. But first, I'm going to go to a special guest joining us. It's Dorian Geiger, national crime reporter and editor with Oxygen. You can find him on Twitter at DGeigs and on Insta at Dorian Geiger. Dorian, thank you for being with us. What happened?

It's an absolutely tragic case, Nancy. As you stated, you know, you had this 13-year-old boy coming home from a park with his sister on October 12th around 7.30 p.m. walking in a bike lane. Reports have it a dark-colored SUV, a 2005-2009 Chevrolet Equinox struck them, did not have any lights on by all accounts even though it was dark out and kept moving as you know when the vehicle struck it hit Chris Del Tyler's sister and he managed to shove her out of the way just in time and bore the brunt of that crash unfortunately he did survive. I'm trying to determine, were these two twins, Dorian? The sister is also 13? I believe she's 14, and that's according to what their mother,

Desiree Max, posted on Facebook. So I don't believe they are twins. I believe she's 14, a year older. I'm wondering when the posting was, but in any event, the two of them were incredibly close and had been through so much together. So not only does the guy plow down the little boy, he keeps going. He absolutely keeps going. There's no way. Let me bring in Robert Farley joining us, former detective at the Cook County Sheriff's Police Department, also with the U.S. Marshal, commanding officer of the Child Exploitation Unit, and a consultant. You can find him at Farley International, F-A-R-L-E-Y-I-N-T-L dot com. Robert, thank you for being with us. There is no way in H-E-L-L this driver did not know he had something.

Nancy, you're 100% right. With my own experience on the police department, what I've found is that most pedestrian deaths are the result of driver negligence. And as a result, I mean, if you look at some of them, in some cases, you'll have a distracted driver because you have a carload of kids, they're laughing, they're joking. In other cases, you have the influence of drugs or alcohol. You might have a situation where the person was texting as the person was driving. Here in Chicago, where I spent most of my career where I live, in some cases it could be a stolen or a carjacked vehicle. You know, in some other cases you'd have an underage driver

who was driving the car without permission, or you have somebody who's suspended or doesn't even have a driver's license. So there's a whole variety of reasons why people wouldn't stop. Not justifying it, certainly, but it's a horrible, horrible thing, especially when you have this little boy, you know, go and save his sister and, you know, tragically die as a result. I'm looking at a picture of him, Tyler Phillips, carrying his sister on piggyback, incredibly close, and had been through so much in their very short lives. They're the same age as my twins and to think this SOB mowed this boy down and just kept on going, not even trying

to determine is the boy dead or alive? If it's alive, can I help him? What, if anything, can I do? Take a listen now to our friends at WNBC4. The siblings have been hanging out at this Gordon Heights Children's Park, the closest playground to the shelter where they have lived for a year. Most of the families do not have transportation, so they walk to where the closest place is for entertainment. And that small park is the closest place where they find they can go. I want to talk about his injuries. I know he suffered extreme brain damage on impact after his spinal cord became disconnected from his skull. Dr. Kendall

Crowns is with us, esteemed chief medical examiner out of Tarrant County. That's in Fort Worth, lecturer, University of Texas and Texas A&M, also a University of Texas medical branch. Dr. Crowns, thank you for being with us. What does does that mean extreme brain damage on impact after spinal core becomes disconnected from skull so what that is is basically it's called an internal decapitation so the head has separated from the neck and the brain these the skeletal structures and the tendons are no longer keeping it in place. And basically, it's held on usually by skin only. So he has been decapitated essentially, but his head is still attached because of whatever skin and tissue is still holding it in place. In that situation...

You know, when I asked you that question, Dr. Kendall-Crowns, I did not anticipate your answer, which is something I would never, of course, do in court. Ask the question you don't know the answer to. You may not like it. Could you repeat that very, very slowly, Dr. Crowns? So, based on the description you've given me, what that is is an internal decapitation. And what it is is the head is separated from the neck, but it's still being in the skeletal structure, the musculature, all that have kind of been torn, but it's still being held

in by a few amount of soft tissue and skin. So his head is separated from his neck and it's only it didn't come off of his body because it's still being held in place by a skin and soft tissue so let me understand the spine connects the body to the head and then the skin around in front and around and in the back of your neck you're saying that the spine was severed. So the head is no longer disconnected to the body except by the skin holding it in place. Correct.

And potentially the spinal cord could still be intact, but stretched to a point that it is completely damaged. It can either be torn in half or stretched really bad. And he would be looking at, if there was survival, he would be basically a quadriplegic. A quadriplegic means you have no use of your arms or legs. Well, everything from chin down would be non-functioning. Okay. I think I know the answer, but could you explain what's the difference in what you just said and not having use of arms or legs? Oh, well,

not much except for the fact that, you know, he wouldn't even have neck movement or anything like that. He'd have no use of his arms or legs, no ability to control his bowel or bladder, potentially would be on a respirator to breathe, and even eating would be difficult. So he would get a gastric feeding tube put in. So I always feel like when you say no use of arms and legs, that is just a component of the overall picture because it's a lot more than just you can't move your arms and legs. All these bodily functions are also damaged as well.

Okay, hold on. You called it an internal decapitation. So he would not be able to use his arms or legs. He would not have any control over urinating or defecating and he would only be able to breathe with a machine? More than likely, correct. Or then what about the brain damage? The brain damage can be, it's probably from being struck by the car. He's either had...

I'm sorry, Dr. Kendall-Krause. Let me clarify my question. So I'm thinking nothing below the neck works. Would the brain work? The brain would still work, but he's probably had head trauma as well that has caused significant brain damage to go on top of the internal decapitation. So he probably doesn't have much function at all with all those injuries. So they're keeping the little boy alive on machines. And if they take away the machines, he'll die, right? Correct. He is being kept artificially alive. And to top off all of this, his sister, who's the closest person in the world to him, is right there and sees this happen to her brother.

Now, I don't know what injuries would be visible on the outside, but probably to her thinking, he looked okay, maybe bruised, not knowing that he had actually been decapitated, an internal decapitation. I'm going to get into how we're going to find this SUV that also did not have its lights on, which I think is very telling. But take a listen now to our friend, Paisley Chang, NBC4. Tyler just celebrated his birthday on Tuesday. He attended William Packham Middle School in Mastic Beach, where his mom says he played football.

Tonight, they are pleading with the driver to come forward. They tried to resuscitate him in an ambulance. He was gone for 30 minutes. They took him to Stony Brook Hospital. And then his vertebrae and his skull got separated. He has no brain function. He's gone. time. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining me, Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist out of the Atlanta jurisdiction.

You can find her at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Dr. Angie, I want you to hear what the sister says. Take a listen to our friends at WABC7. Walking with his sister, Crystal, who tells us they never saw it coming, just a quick glimpse of an SUV with no lights on. Well, I think it was a great car crystal has a sprained arm but they tell us this could have easily been two kids killed the car hit her first and then ended up like i guess he went to go jump and grab her and it

just took him a tragedy that is sadly no surprise to many who live near this busy stretch of road. They run a stop sign and they speed for no reason. And more from WNBC4. This boy just celebrated his 13th birthday on Tuesday, and now his family is in mourning. The sister telling us tonight that her brother is a hero. They were walking along this street right here when he pushed her out of the way to avoid a hit-and-run driver that then drove away unspeakable grief over the loss of her baby 13 year old tyler phillips struck and

killed by a hit-and-run driver a truck right can i go back inside now tell them what kind of makeup truck it was it was a jeep it was a jeep We believe gray in color. To Dorian Geiger joining us, national crime reporter and editor with Oxygen, what do we know about the vehicle itself? Well, Nancy, we know it's what appears to be a 2005-2009 dark-colored Chevrolet Equinox. And again, it was traveling with its lights off, as you said. But that's really all that we know at this moment. Again, I reached out to Suffolk County Sheriff's Office this morning to try and get an update, you know, just to see if there was anything. Was it gray or black? Do we know that, Dorian?

I don't think there's a definitive. What I've just seen is that it was a dark colored. You know, Dr. Angie Arnold, I was about to come to you with a, I guess, rhetorical question, unless you have an answer, which would be a miracle. Why does it always seem that good,

innocent people are the ones that suffer the most, like this little boy, Tyler. Nancy, I don't think we have an answer for that. It's a horrendous accident. It was an accident. And the perpetrator of the accident was horrible and not stopping. But, Nancy, at the end of the day, it was an accident.

And our hearts go out because, as you said... Okay, wait a minute. What? Why are you saying it's an accident? Well, Nancy, somebody's speeding down the street, and he hits a couple of kids while he's speeding down the street. I don't... Okay, see, under the law, that's not an accident, Dr. Angie.

That's not an accident at all. Wendy Patrick, joining me, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags on Amazon. She's at WendyPatrickPhD.com and the host of Today with Dr. Wendy on KCBQ in San Diego. Wendy, that's total BS. When you are speeding with your lights off at night in the bike lane, and you mow somebody down, that's not an accident. That's a vehicular homicide. Yeah, and the difference, Nancy, the vehicular homicide, you're driving in a manner that is completely unsafe for the conditions.

Here you have a huge vehicle with no lights on, obviously driving at a speed that is far past for the conditions, and mows down these two kids, and then doesn't stop. So you've also got hit and run. There's multiple vehicle code sections, including, as you say, the most serious one, the homicide, that come into play. And that's, you know, the reason we have these statutes is to distinguish something that was unavoidable from something that could have been avoided if somebody had been driving safely. I'm very curious to you, Robert Farley, former detective Cook County,

now Farley International Investigations. Robert, I find that very curious that this person is speeding without their lights on. You know, what makes you wonder as I'm listening to you talking and the other panel members, could the person have possibly even been fleeing some sort of crime or something like that? It's my experience that that happens frequently, that they'll turn their lights off to avoid detection. We're being told that it is a gray SUV, a 2005 to 2009 Chevy Equinox. How are we going to find this? Now, I'm sure you'll remember all you legal eagles, the case of Molly Tibbetts. She was the co-ed who was house-sitting at her boyfriend's home with his dogs while he's out of town. She was doing her homework at the kitchen counter. She goes out for a jog and she's never seen alive again.

Massive hunt for Molly. It was only when ring doorbell cams in the area where she typically jogged revealed a vehicle going forward and reverse, forward and reverse, that aroused suspicion. But from the ring doorbell vantage point, couldn't get a tag number, but what you could see was, let me just say, individual markings, which I believe was due to a crash or a fender bender along the side of the vehicle. That vehicle was traced back to Molly's murderer. There is also the case of a stunning, just gorgeous, she looks like Snow White to me, as I envision Snow White, not in a cartoon, but in real life. Kendra Hatcher. She was a pediatric dentist engaged in love

who was shot dead in the parking lot of her high-rise building in Texas. No one could solve it until, upon close close inspection video surveillance within the parking garage the perp was viewed getting back into a vehicle with significant markings on it the 11 o'clock news ran that video and And the guy goes, that's my car. I recognize the body damage on my car. And he calls police. As it turned out, he had loaned the car to a friend,

Brenda Delgado, who had dated Kendra's then-fiancé. And out of scorn, she had her murdered. And it was only through identifying that vehicle due to its unusual markings, body damage, that justice was sought. So how, Robert Farley, are we going to get this SOP? Nancy, I think looking at the area, because I've taught not only, I've taught multiple times in Long Island, not only for the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, but also Nassau County.

You've got an interstate that runs across called 495. To the north of that, you've got another interstate that runs east and west, just like 495 called Route 25. If the accident had happened on one of those roads, it would have been more difficult, in my experience, finding the offender. This is more like a smaller road, which would initially make me think it's probably somebody from the area that would have been involved in the accident. And, you know, as part of looking at it, then what we would be doing is then, you know, reaching out to body shops, car dealers. The vehicle, from what I read, had sustained damage to an outside mirror, had sustained damage to a fender.

And I'd be looking at that. And again, I'm thinking in my mind, this wasn't somebody going down the Long Island Freeway, which is 495 or even Route 25. I mean, this was more of a, what we would call a side street. But I'm thinking of somebody probably local or at least from the area. I agree with you. And I agree with everything you just said. And I rarely get to say that. To Dorian Geiger, I only hope the local police are listening to what Rob Farley just said. Dorian, isn't it true that the little boy and girl were headed home from a playground, a park?

That is correct. To the shelter where they were staying. That is correct. Well, it seems to me if you're around a playground or a park, there's going to be video surveillance cameras. Am I crazy or doesn't that make sense to you? Yes, there were video surveillance cameras. I'm sure that's part of the police investigation at the moment. Unfortunately, nothing public has been put out. There has been reference of, you know, surveillance cameras

being tapped by investigators. Unfortunately, we don't know a lot about what they're going through at the moment. But I just want to reiterate, you know, to anyone listening to the show in Long Island, if anyone does see the Chevrolet Evox, there is a 24-7 tip line that can be called. It's 1-800-220-TIPS. Again, it's a 2005-2009 Chevy Equinox SUV. And like your last guest just said that I forgot to mention, it is suspected that the vehicle had the damaged front passenger mirror and side view passenger mirror that's damaged as well the taillight hold on wait you got me drinking from the fire hydrant dorian geiger damage to the front passenger side mirror is that what you just said the front passenger mirror and a side view front passenger

mirror correct the front jump in okay nancy this is wendy that damage may or may not have been fixed but you know how many of these cases are solved is this driver told somebody about it and somebody's conscious is weighing on them right now as we cover this and it's all over the airwaves so either the driver is going to out of remorse which occasionally we see gives me some hope and humanity or somebody that the driver spoke to may also be an amazing source of information that'll lead us to figure out who did it even if we never trace it through the car guys we're talking about a 13 year old little boy tyler phillips who dives in front of his sister they're incredibly close they're living in a shelter with their mom.

They've been there for a year. He's playing football at the local middle school. And they're walking home from a park. And after all they've been through, this gray SUV, believed to be a Chevy Equinox, mows him down. He saves his sister's life. And he dies from internal decapitation. Take a listen to this. Adding to the tragedy, Tyler's whole family struggling to get by in a motel that serves as a homeless shelter. The children are often looking for things to do, and there's nothing here. It's a commercial area.

They took long bus rides to their middle school here in Mastic Beach, a half hour away, and their long walk home last night simply because the nearest playground to the shelter was so far away. Now, Tyler's mom grieving and pleading for one thing. Please come forward. Guys, you are hearing our friends at WABC, the mother now pleading for one thing. Please come forward. Guys, you are hearing our friends at WABC. The mother now pleading for people to come forward. Take a listen now to our friends at PIX11. Phillips and his sister were walking more than two miles from the Gordon Heights Children's Playground

back to the shelter where they've been staying with their mother. Phillips and his family attend a Baptist church on Route 112. We spoke with the pastor of the church. That's the love of a brother for his sister. As they were walking, as they would hear the vehicles approach, they attempted to move further to the side. But unfortunately, with this particular vehicle, they didn't hear it, nor were there any lights on the vehicle. So it made it difficult for both of them to move out of the area of danger. And so lovingly enough, he them to move out of the area of danger. And so lovingly enough, he pushed his cyst out of the way and suffered the brunt of the injuries.

Another thing we know is that in that area in Coram, there are no sidewalks. And that is why the children were walking in the bike lane. To Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. What must this little girl be going through? Her life was spared by her brother who gave his own. Nancy, she has been traumatized beyond belief. She is never going to forget this. She's going to have times in her life when she's better and when she's not better. Certainly, I believe that she could use some therapy immediately. First, she's going to grieve. She's going to go through all the steps of

death and dying for her brother who saved her life. But this is always going to affect her, Nancy. She's going to have what we call survivor guilt. Why didn't I die? Why did he die? And another thing that I want everyone to realize is, too, he is always going to be her 14-year-old brother in her mind. As she grows up, he's going to be her 14-year-old little brother that died that day, saving her life. It's a trauma. Saving her life. Nancy, it's a horrific trauma. And you know, that trauma is going to be with her the rest of her life. There's really no question.

And it affects not only your memories, but it affects how you go through life i mean losing my fiancee to a murder has changed everything i mean it took me so long to be able to move forward with starting a family i almost waited too long to the point i couldn't have children anymore it has affected the way I bring them up. Just every facet of your life changes because the violence, much less violence like this, that she witnessed. And she has no justice. And you know, Nancy, it never gets easier for anybody. Just like it really never gets easier for you.

Never. This was a, what you suffered was a horrific trauma. And people think that, you know, by doing these shows and you do them, and I know there may be people out there that think, do you become hardened to any of this? And I just want everyone to know that we don't become hardened to this. Every one of these stories affects us because we also know how much it's going to affect the people that it actually happened to.

You never become hardened to this. I feel so bad for this little girl, 14, losing her 13-year-old brother as he saves her life. Will she go the rest of her life with no justice? This hit-and-run driver, like the coward he is, takes off in the night, leaving the boy internally decapitated on the side of the road for dead. And for all purposes, he was dead. Another issue to think about, Robert Farley joining us, former detective, former U.S. Deputy U.S.

Marshal, also private investigator, Farley International at Farleyintl.com. Robert, I'm thinking back to the case of a gorgeous young girl, Sydney Sutherland. She went out jogging and she was hit by a truck. Turned out to be a farmer not far from her. He then put her bleeding into the bed of the truck, took her off, raped her, made sure she was dead. And do you know Robert Farley, that when his truck was finally found, there was damage on the truck and her DNA was still in the truck bed.

His name, Quake Llewellyn. You know, that's something that we didn't even talk about. I mean, I've seen accidents like that where there will be, and again, I mean, it sounds terrible. Your listeners might be cringing. I mean, just like with the artificial decapitation, but you've got hair that in some cases is embedded around the lights, around the grill. You've got DNA. You've got blood that would be conceivably on there. You would have, in some cases, materials that would be hanging on the underside of the car. If they can locate this car or this SUV, if they can locate this car, I mean, you're going to find evidence. You know, Dr. Kendall Crowns is joining me, chief medical examiner, Tarrant County in Fort Worth,

and well-known lecturer and teacher, professor. Dr. Kendall Crowns, did you hear what Robert Farley just said? I'm certainly not picking a fight with a Deputy U.S. Marshal. But let me clarify what he just said. And I've got to tell you, Dr. Kendall Crowns, it reminds me of times I would get in front of a jury at the beginning anyway, where I could barely say the words

because they would be so upsetting. I'm not talking about curse words, the P word, the C word, the every word, you know, quoting a defendant. But I'm thinking about this 13-year-old boy and Farley just said, look under the SUV and on the side for, quote, materials. Now, I know what he's doing.

He's airbrushing it because he doesn't want to cause any more pain to the family. But Dr. Kendall crowns, what is Farley talking about when he says material? Well, I mean, he was basically talking about tissue from the body,

usually skin, muscle, blood, blood, blood skin often teeth you can even get eyes things like that can be all ground up into the car especially when they get clipped and then pulled into the wheel well it'll usually separate the body uh quite a bit you can usually almost tear them in half and you can even get parts of organs and intestines mixed into the car as well. And you have to think about the axle going over the body too is spinning in a circle and it can just grind you up like a garbage disposal. crime stories with nancy grace dr kennel crowns does it ever dawn on you because it does occasionally dawn on me, that what I'm saying is not very socially appropriate. It's not exactly, it's nothing anybody really wants to hear about.

Let me just put it like that. But it's our line of work. And what you just said is exactly the truth. You take a look at this 13-year-old boy, Tyler, and then you hear what Dr. Kendall-Crowse just said. That's what's on this SUV right now. We're used to talking about it. So it just rolls off our tongues. But what about this little boy's sister and mother? How do you think all this is setting with them? And it happens all the time. There is a socialite out of LA. I swear I think this woman is going to escape justice. I want you to hear about Rebecca Grossman from our friends at KCAL 9. One of the boys was pronounced dead on the scene.

The other died at the hospital. Police arrested 57-year-old Rebecca Grossman. We've learned she's a well-known figure in the community. She even appeared on KCAL 9 News at noon last year to help raise funds for charity. It really is, you know, about collaborating. She's the founder and chair of the Grossman Burn Foundation. She's also been recognized for her humanitarian work across the world. Now she's faced with two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Authorities say she was driving under the influence. It's senseless because it could have been avoided simply by using Uber, Lyft, even calling a friend. And now there'll be two Westlake families that are going to be affected by this for generations

captain becerra also told me grossman did not stay on the scene and was arrested a quarter mile up the road she was booked on a two million dollar bail and authorities believe there's also a second vehicle involved that's all part of this investigation um i also want you to hear our cut 14 Chris Holstrom from KCAL. It was just before dark a family of six was walking across this crosswalk when tragedy struck. Captain Salvador Becerra with the LA County Sheriff's Department describes what happened next. The family were in a marked crosswalk, clearly marked. As she realized there were two cars speeding her way, she was able to reach out and grab one of her children off of a Razor scooter,

pull the child back with the stroller, with another child in the stroller, as the car entered the intersection and hit the other two boys. What exactly happened when the socialite plowed into a family? Well, from what we've learned, a family of six was walking through a crosswalk just before dark when tragedy struck. We learn the family was in a clearly marked crosswalk when the mother realized two cars were speeding her way. She was able to grab one child from a scooter, another child in a stroller. The car plowed through the intersection and hit her other two children. What we know about Rebecca Grossman's case is that she is going to face trial. The defense is begging and demanding that her case be dismissed.

But that's not all. Take a listen to this. According to Sacramento police, the hit and run happened at around 2 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of T and Alhambra. Francisco Rodriguez, who friends and family call Paco, had just installed LED lights on his bike the night of the crash. It lit up.

I don't know how anybody could have not seen him on that bike. It was all red. It lit up. Paco's friends how anybody could have not seen him on that bike. It was all red, lit up. Paco's friends and family are posting flyers around Sacramento tonight, hoping anyone with information will call the police. I want them to turn themselves in. How dare you take my son like that and hurt him and leave him there? They didn't even stop to help him. How can anybody have a heart and how can they do that? Leave somebody there to die. This little boy, Paco, had just put in LED lights on his bike. How could you miss that? How does that happen?

You are hearing our friends at KXTV ABC 10. Take a listen now to Matt Gutman, ABC 2020. As Ethan awakes in a hospital bed, the sun also rises over Burleson-Redder Road. It is Father's Day. The next day, yeah, I find these packages where my Father's Day cards have been filled out. And my Father's Day gifts were there. I bet they were gone. There was no preparation, no time to say goodbyes or anything else. You are hearing the dad

of Eric Boyles talking about Father's Day cards that were meant for him, but his son was dead after Ethan Couch, the affluenzatine, ran down an entire group of people just plowing through them with no thought whatsoever to whether they were dead or alive. And then gets an incredibly lenient sentence yet another hit and run on the morning of april 21st 2020 katie and john palmer went for a walk in their neighborhood 15 minutes later their neighbor cory foster hit them from behind with his f-250 knocking them out of their shoes and throwing them yards away. What's her name?

John broke his back and somehow still managed to crawl over to Katie, who was unresponsive after a blunt force trauma to her head. Hey, John, is that your wife? What's her name? Katie was flown by helicopter to a hospital. And it was there that she died. You're hearing our friends at KXII. Here's more.

Troopers began to ask Foster what happened. I just couldn't see because the glare was so bad. Yeah. Which I shouldn't have driven. Foster sighted a foggy windshield, but a trooper on the scene mentioned another factor. I'm smelling it pretty strong coming from the rest of today. That's why I'm asking how late did she stop? How late did she have to last? another factor. The information Foster gave the trooper was enough to perform a field sobriety test. Straight out to Robert Farley joining us, former Cook County Sheriff's Deputy and former Deputy U.S. Marshal. Why do you believe that hit and run homicides are treated more leniently than others?

People, my experience is people want to give people a chance and they don't think accidents arise to a criminal act. I mean, I don't think accidents arise to a criminal act. I mean, I don't think they're that bad at all. Why are you calling it an accident? I just went through this with Dr. Angie. When you're driving at night without your lights on in the bike lane, and you mow down two children and one dies, that's not an accident. That was a decision to drive without your lights on in the bike lane and and you know and that's what i was saying people think that but i mean it's it's a homicide and and again why was the person driving with the the lights uh off i mean as i said they

could have been playing from committing another crime and And that, and... Well, there's another aspect to it, Robert Farley, and that's the fact that they kept going, knowing they hit someone, knowing darn well they hit someone. That's no accident. That's a decision to keep going. That's a mighty cold person, a mighty, mighty cold person

to do something horrible like that, especially involving children. Go ahead, Wendy. This is especially egregious because it's also circumstantial evidence of fault, of intent, of recklessness to not stop. I mean, it's one thing to have created the situation to begin with by driving at an unsafe speed with unsafe conditions. It's quite another not to stop.

So all of this goes back to the intent of the driver. And, you know, I like the point that was just brought up about, you know, are they fleeing another crime? Why would anybody be driving through an area with a white towel? But I also want to bring up the speed, the speed with which those children were struck, severed the spinal cord from the brain. So we put that into the mix as well in terms of recklessness rising to the level of criminal intent. The tip line. This occurred in Corham, New York, Long Island. 800-222-TIPS. 800-222-8477.

Dorian Geiger, where does the case stand right now? Tyler's mother, Desira Mack, and she is, you know, still reeling from this. And she wants answers, Nancy. She just told me, quote, the man that hit my kids needs to please come forward. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace Connstall signing off. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.