Teen volleyball player pinned between cars, loses legs

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A teenage volleyball player from Tennessee had both of her legs amputated after an accident caused by a speeding St. Louis motorist who violated his bond conditions on earlier charges more than 50 times, according to police and court records.

The case has renewed criticism of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner by those who said the driver should have been behind bars on bond violations.

The Missouri Senate president called on Gardner to resign and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said Gardner had “lost the trust of the people.”

Janae Edmondson, a 16- year- old player in town for a volleyball tournament, was injured Saturday night when she was pinned between two cars in downtown St. Louis while walking back to a hotel with her family.

Police said Daniel Riley, 21, an unlicensed driver, was speeding and failed to yield at an intersection when his vehicle hit another car that then struck Edmondson, pinning her between two cars.

Edmondson was visiting with the Mid-TN volleyball club, based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The high school senior, from Smyrna, Tennessee, was in stable condition, her volleyball coach said.

Riley was out on bond after a 2020 robbery charge that was dismissed and re-filed last year. His bond violations included letting his GPS monitor die and breaking terms for his house arrest, according to court records, which show he violated bond at least seven times since Feb. 1, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Court officials said they didn’t know Riley had violated his bond because prosecutors had never filed a motion to revoke it.

A judge on Tuesday ordered Riley held without bond after Riley’s attorney, Daniel Diemer, argued for a reduced bond, saying Riley had no serious criminal history other than the robbery charge.

Prosecutors argued Riley should remain jailed. Edmondson’s parents testified at the hearing about watching as their daughter was injured. The girl’s father used his military training to stem the bleeding with tourniquets made of belts until paramedics arrived, they said.

After some critics blasted Gardner because Rider was not behind bars, she issued a statement Tuesday night saying the controversy was an attempt by her critics to “twist the facts to take advantage of this situation for their own selfish motives.”

“This is not the time for finger pointing, it’s time to support this family, to ensure that justice is served,” the statement said.