ST. LOUIS — The signs that weren't there the night then-17-year-old Janae Edmondson lost both of her legs are now key elements of a lawsuit and a police investigation into the crash that nearly killed her.
Google Earth photos and photos police took at the scene of the Feb. 18 crash show there was only a yield sign at the intersection where the Tennessee teen was struck.
“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 a lawsuit Edmondson filed this week against the City of St. Louis, the man accused of striking her, his mother, a car rental company and the driver of a second car.
At some point since crash, the city agreed, and installed a stop sign at the intersection of 11th and St. Charles streets. A sign below it warns drivers along St. Charles Street that traffic along 11th Street does not stop.
A spokesman for the mayor’s office would not say when the city installed the signs and said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
Edmondson was in town for a volleyball tournament. She lost both of her legs as a result of the crash.
The incident thrust years of ongoing failures of former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner into the spotlight.
At the time of the crash, Riley was supposed to be on house arrest for an unrelated crime dating to 2020 and had violated the terms of his bond more than 90 times with no documented motions to revoke his bond by Gardner's office.
He also was supposed to go to trial in July 2022 for that crime, but "the state wasn't ready," for trial, according to court documents. So, Gardner's office dismissed and refiled the charges against Riley, starting the clock over again on armed criminal action and robbery charges that could have sent Riley to prison had he been found guilty at trial.
Gardner ultimately resigned May 16.
Now, about a week after Edmondson’s 18th birthday, she’s filed a lawsuit against the City of St. Louis, Riley, Riley’s mother, Kimberly Riley, the driver of a second car involved in the crash and the rental company that gave the Rileys the Audi SUV that struck Edmondson.
5 On Your Side has also obtained the 154-page police report about the accident, which reveals new details about the crash, including:
- Riley had marijuana in the blood sample drawn at the hospital following the crash. Codeine and fentanyl were also present, but the police report does not include the ambulance reports to show whether those drugs were given to Riley by paramedics for his injuries following the crash. He did not have any alcohol present in his blood, according to the report.
- Riley was “operating with the accelerator at 100% of full throttle one second prior to impact.”
- The vehicle brakes were “not applied prior to or at impact.”
- There was no attempt to steer and avoid the collision.
- Riley was driving 45 mph. The speed limit is 25 mph.
- Riley admitted driving the Audi and told police he was “only” going 15-20 mph. Officers told Riley witnesses claimed he was driving about 60 mph and it was unlikely that his car could cause that much damage doing only 15-20 mph. Riley told officers that he was parked and “there was no (expletive) way” he was traveling 60 mph, he was not going fast and added that his vehicle only had 300 horsepower.
- Riley told police he did have a driver’s license, but he never obtained the hard copy. Police later determined his license was suspended.
- Riley spoke to his mother in the back of a police car that was equipped with an in-car camera and captured Riley telling her that he was struck and the other car T-boned him.
- Riley told police he was at the “Studio” at 10th and St. Charles and left around 8:30 p.m. He was operating an Audi, identified as vehicle #2. He said it was a rental car. He said he was driving 20 miles per hour when he approached the yield sign
- As he was driving off, the Malibu struck the side of his vehicle and Riley told police he “blacked out” and woke up while he was sliding. Police again told Riley he could not have been traveling 15-20 mph and slid on his rooftop after impact, and Riley then stated his foot must have still been on the accelerator after the collision and this is the reason his vehicle traveled as far as it did.
- The Malibu that struck Riley was rented through Turo, a peer-to-peer car-sharing app.
- Within 3.5 seconds, Riley accelerated from 17-45 mph, which is how fast he was going at the time of the crash, the report said.
- The 2023 Audi Q5 Riley was driving was picked up on Feb. 12 with a scheduled return on Feb. 25.
- Riley accelerated from a stop to 45 mph in 193 feet, “nearing the maximum capabilities of the vehicle,” the report said. As he was accelerating and approaching the intersection of St. Charles and 11th Street, he lifted off the accelerator for a half second and then reapplied the accelerator back to 100% acceleration. Riley then violated the yield sign entering the intersection.
- At impact, the driver of the Malibu had the accelerator pedal at 52% with no brake applied and was traveling 27 mph at .5 seconds before impact with Riley’s car. “That driver would not have been able to see northbound vehicle traffic, due to the field of view being obscured by the Locust Building, an 11-story building located on the southeast corner of the intersection,” according to the police report.
- Edmondson's parents told police they were walking to their vehicle, which was parked on the south side of St. Charles Street, just west of 11th Street, after a volleyball game. Her father heard Riley's Audi approaching at a "very rapid acceleration" and turned around and saw there was a vehicle approaching from the block east of them, on St. Charles. They stepped off the curb to cross St. Charles Street and were standing behind a vehicle that was parked at the curb. Edmondson's father tried to grab and pull his daughter back to safety, but the Audi continued to accelerate westbound until it collided with a vehicle driving northbound on N. 11th.
- After the first collision, the Audi began to rotate and go airborne. This car then crushed his daughter between it and a parked car on the corner. The Audi rolled over and slid down the street on its roof.
- Edmondson's father saw severe injuries to his daughters’ legs, with severe bleeding. He immediately started first aid with a couple of belts from strangers, using them as tourniquets, and applied them to both of her legs. She was then transported to Saint Louis University Hospital.
- Edmondson's mother corroborated her husband's version of events to police at the hospital, and said after the crash that she tried to help stop her daughter’s bleeding using blankets.
Edmondson’s lawsuit also claims the yield sign that was at the intersection on the night of the crash wasn’t appropriate for the intersection because the large buildings on either side of the street block a driver like Riley’s view of cross traffic.
5 On Your Side legal analyst Scott Rosenblum, a long-time criminal defense attorney often sees his clients file lawsuits in civil court. He reviewed Edmondson’s lawsuit.
“It's just another way to seek justice,” he said. “I mean, unfortunately, sometimes the only way to seek justice is measured in dollars and cents, and that's the only way to quantify it.”
Of all the defendants named, Rosenblum says the city has the biggest target on its back.
“Obviously the person with most liability would be Mr. Riley,” Rosenblum said. “But attorneys look for the deepest pockets."
“I would say that would be the City of St. Louis, given the construction of that intersection,” he said.
5 On Your Side told Rosenblum about the stop sign that now stands at the intersection where Edmondson’s life was changed forever.
“Certainly, I think that is fairly damning,” he said. “Now, it's going to be an issue whether those remedial efforts get into evidence.
“That'll be up to a judge,” he said.
Riley’s next criminal court appearance is scheduled for August.