KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Prosecutors are awaiting toxicology results a week to the day after police say a woman went on a hit and run rampage behind the wheel, striking a pedestrian and then causing two other crashes.
The family of the pedestrian, Terrance Rice, 59, wants charges and accountability.
Tressa Bailey and her uncle, Rice, are close. They always talk on a solemn anniversary, May 8.
“I had just spoken with my uncle about 9 o’clock in the morning,” Bailey said. “We were talking, I called him and said, ‘Today is mom’s birthday,’ which is his sister. My mom was killed in 1986, so I celebrate her birthday every year.”
But when she tried him back, he didn’t pick up.
“I didn’t get a response, and a few hours later my nephew called me and told me that he was hit by a car,” Bailey said. “I started thinking what could I have done for this not to have happened, stayed on the phone with him or things like that?”
Kansas City, Missouri police say shortly before 11:30 that morning, Rice was walking on Bannister Rd. at the 71 Hwy south ramp when a speeding female driver hit him, sending him into the windshield, onto the hood and then the pavement.
“If he was hit in his torso area it was probably going to be fatal, but ultimately I’m not sure if he reacted in some way where he was just clipped, and lifted in the air and came down on the car,” Bailey said. “That is probably why he didn’t break any bones.”
Bailey shot video of Rice on Monday night in the hospital, where she says he continues to recover. Doctors told the family he has a head injury, but no brain bleed.
Police say after hitting Rice, the driver left the scene, and speeding through Grandview forced another driver to swerve and hit a jersey barrier. Then, in Belton, she caused another crash south of East 155th before hitting and riding the median.
She was not injured and was later captured running from authority after causing this mayhem on the roads.
KCPD says she has been released pending further investigation as they await toxicology results.
“I just feel like there was a lack of compassion and a need for accountability,” Bailey said.
The family hopes this GoFundMe set up by Rice’s apartment complex can help him with expenses.