Cop who killed girl, 4, while reversing police car onto sidewalk charged with manslaughter
A police officer who killed a four year-old girl after driving her car onto a sidewalk has been charged with the youngster’s manslaughter.
Andria Heese, 28, from Columbia Police Department in Columbia, Missouri, was charged with involuntary Monday, almost a year after she killed Gabriella Curry on January 4 this year.
Heese struck and killed the little girl while trying to park her cruiser on a sidewalk outside Battle Creek High School to watch students get on buses.
Gabriella was on the sidewalk when she was struck, and was rushed to hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Her mother Cheyenne was a school bus driver, and had taken her along with her to work on the day she was struck and killed.
Announcing the charges, prosecutor Heather Miller said that the delay in bringing them had been due to the complexity of the investigation.
She told ABC17: ‘We’ve been working with the Highway Patrol.
‘We’ve been in contact with the family, working with them and making sure that all the ducks were in a row before we were comfortable filing the case.’
Heese faces between three and 10 years if convicted, although she could also avoid jail and be sentenced to probation instead.
The City of Columbia has already paid Gabriella’s family $3.4million as part of a wrongful death lawsuit.
The Currys received a further $125,000 from the city’s public schools division, with Heese currently on administrative leave from her job.