ST. LOUIS — The upcoming trial of a man accused of striking a Tennessee teen, severing both of her legs, is so high-profile that St. Louis court officials had to summon three times as many residents as usual to ensure a fair and impartial jury.
Daniel Riley, 21, is charged with second-degree assault, armed criminal action and driving without a license.
On Feb. 18, 2023, police said Riley sped through the intersection of North 11th and St. Charles streets in downtown St. Louis and clipped another car before pinning Janae Edmondson, then 17, against another car.
Edmondson was walking with both of her parents to their hotel after playing in a volleyball tournament at the nearby Dome at America's Center. Riley was supposed to be on house arrest at the time for an alleged armed robbery that happened two years before the crash.
The story got national attention and also spotlighted mounting criticism of the office of former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, ending with her resignation in May 2023.
Riley’s attorneys tried to ask for a change of venue for the case, but Judge Michael Noble denied that request. Jury summonses were sent to about 435 St. Louisans for this case. About 140 residents are summoned in a typical case.
St. Louis University law professor Anders Walker isn’t surprised.
“This needs to be tried in St. Louis City,” Walker said. “This is about the future of the town."
“I mean, if we're going to attract people to our soccer stadium and these games and Union Station, we've got to have safe streets,” he said. “We can't have tourists getting killed and losing legs when they're visiting town.
“Jurors can be told, ‘You have to be objective. And if you can't, you can't sit on the jury,’ so they can get instructions to be fair, but it needs to be tried in this town," he said.
Walker said a recent spate of serious and fatal pedestrian and traffic crashes in the St. Louis area could influence jurors too, beyond just the publicity Riley’s case got when it first happened.
Just eight days after Edmondson lost her legs, four young adults were killed when Cedric Dixon ran a red light and struck a Chevrolet Tahoe. The SUV careened over a guardrail and landed upside-down on Forest Park Avenue, which runs below North Grand Boulevard. Four others were injured.
Dixon, 35, pleaded guilty to four counts each of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree assault, and one count of leaving the scene of a crash. He was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison. The sentence outraged the victim’s families.
In February 2024, a Chicago mother and daughter were killed while crossing Olive Boulevard near Enterprise Center following a Drake concert. Police said the suspect in that case, Monte Henderson, was speeding through red lights and was traveling 70 mph when he collided with another vehicle and slammed into the victims.
And Thursday night, a man was killed at Tucker Boulevard and Convention Plaza when police said he collided with a pickup truck, sending his car rolling onto its roof after the collision and ejecting him from his vehicle.
The car's driver was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The pickup driver, a 62-year-old man, and his passenger, a 32-year-old man, in the pickup truck were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin in Edmondon’s case Tuesday, once a jury is seated.
“The prosecution wants anyone who has been on the streets of St. Louis recently, who has seen people speeding, running red lights, getting in accidents (or) anyone who's been in an accident. And the defense will want someone who's never driven or been outside,” Walker said.
Edmondson is also suing the city of St. Louis in a civil case, alleging the city put a yield sign at the intersection where she was struck instead of a stop sign.
"Because buildings block any view of traffic traveling on 11th Street, a full stop is required for traffic on St. Charles to adequately observe conflicting cross traffic," according to the lawsuit. "Defendant Daniel Riley entered the intersection and was struck in the left rear of the 2023 Audi by the vehicle driven by Elizabeth Smith."
The city installed a stop sign at the intersection following Edmondson’s crash.
Riley’s second-degree assault charge carries a maximum of seven years in jail. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore’s office could push for much more time if he’s convicted of an armed criminal action charge.
Walker said that given all of the deadly crashes there have been in the city, he believes the Circuit Attorney’s Office has a tone to set.
“I think maybe they should make this case an example for anyone who is out there thinking about running red lights, speeding, hitting other cars (or) racing in the streets,” he said. “This is going to be a case to watch.”