ST. LOUIS — A 17-year old girl died at a St. Louis intersection when the driver of a stolen car fleeing police slammed into the car she was riding in Sunday night.
Police said Samantha Washington died late Sunday night when she was thrown from a car at West Florissant and Shreve avenues in St. Louis.
"Things happen in the blink of an eye," Washington's father Tyrone Washington said. "I lost my daughter to a tragic car accident."
Samantha was riding in a vehicle with a 28-year-old man when a stolen vehicle out of Illinois fleeing from St. Louis SWAT officers struck them on Sunday evening. Police say they noticed the vehicle speeding in the area just before the crash.
Officers said Samantha Washington was unresponsive on the pavement when they arrived on the scene. She was pronounced a short time later.
"My daughter is beautiful, prettiest girl in the world. Serena Williams beautiful," Tyrone Washington said.
Now the only reminder of his daughter's beautiful smile is the 5-month-old son Samantha leaves behind. Her aunt Gwendolyn Rodgers wishes this crash never happened.
"It's heartbreaking," she said. "The only thing we can do is pull together, we have each other."
The father hopes parents across the city hold their kids a little closer tonight. Even though she's gone he knows his daughter is always close by.
"She's going home right now, I talk to her all the time in my heart," he said.
The driver of the fleeing car tried to run off, but officers caught him and took him into custody. No charges have been announced in this case as of this writing.