Family Of Girl Killed In Crash Demands Police Officer Be Fired

AUBURNDALE, FL — The family of a 5-year-old girl who was killed when an Auburndale police sergeant crashed into the car she was riding in on Nov. 25 say they want the sergeant fired.

During a news conference Monday organized by Black Lives Matter Restoration Polk Inc. and the Poor and Minority Justice Association, Jalina Anglin's father, Daniel Harrell, said he was hurt and angry when he saw media reports indicating that the crash wasn't going to be investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

It's standard procedure in Polk County that, when police officers or deputies are directly involved in a case in which there's been a shooting by police or other harm to a member of the public due to the actions of police, the FDLA takes over the investigation.

Harrell said the police and Polk County Sheriff's Office, which headed up the investigation, quickly determined that Sgt. Danny Swann wasn't at fault and issued a news release to that effect the next day.

Swann has been placed on routine administrative leave while the investigation is continuing.

"If no consequences happen, he's (Swann) going to continue to think he wasn't at fault," Harrell said. "He's going to genuinely think what I'm doing is not wrong, so somebody else's mother or grandma is going to be hurt. He has to be held accountable."

According to Polk County sheriff's detectives, the little girl was riding in the backseat of a blue 2016 Kia sedan driven by her mother, Jermanica Anglin, just before 10 p.m. on Nov. 25.

The Kia was headed north on Havendale Boulevard and stopped at the red traffic light at the intersection of Havendale and U.S. 92 (Magnolia Avenue).

Swann was driving a marked Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with the vehicle's lights and siren activated. According to detectives, he was heading east on U.S. 92 to assist a sheriff's deputy who was involved in a physical fight with a suspect on U.S. 92 at Old Winter Haven Road.

When the light on Havendale Boulevard changed from red to green, Jermanica Anglin pulled forward into the intersection where the Kia was struck by the police pickup truck.

Jermanica Anglin told Polk sheriff's detectives that she heard the sirens but didn't see the police vehicle. When the light changed and the car in the lane next to her began to pull forward, she told detectives that she did likewise, assuming the road was clear.

The Rev. Carl Soto, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc., said the police vehicle was speeding at more than 85 mph when it struck the side of the Kia.

Jalina was rushed to the hospital where she died from head trauma. Her mother was treated for a broken wrist. Swann was not injured.

At the news conference, Jalina's grandmother, Latrice McKinnis, said Jermanica Anglin picked the little girl up from her house that night. About 10 to 15 minutes later, she said she received a call from her son giving her the devastating news. Her granddaughter had been in a car accident and wasn't breathing.

She tearfully recalled her last words to her granddaughter.

"I always would say to her, ‘Nana loves you unconditionally, forever. And that would be my last words to her, ‘Unconditionally, forever, Nana will always love you,'" said McKinnis.

Related: 5-Year-Old Killed After Car Crashes With Auburndale Police Vehicle

Soto claims the sergeant was driving recklessly and at an unsafe speed when he drove through the red light at the intersection, crashing into the Kia.

Not only did the civil rights leader demand that Swann be fired but Soto said he's contacted the U.S. Justice Department to take over the investigation because he has "strong credibility concerns" about the sheriff's office.

Soto added that the fact that Swann was responding to an emergency call is no excuse for recklessness.

"This does not excuse Sgt. Swann's decision to run a red light, speeding at a high rate of speed, using his patrol truck as a bulldozer that ran and slammed into a vehicle occupying a child and her mother," said Soto.

Moreover, he said the sheriff's office has produced no evidence that Swann was actually responding to an emergency call at the time of the accident.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said there's no question the sergeant was responding to a call for help.

“Sgt. Swann is devastated,” said Judd. “Even though he was perfectly in his right to run emergencies through the light. It still doesn’t make it any better for him or for the family of this child that is deceased.”

According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, most crashes involving emergency vehicles occur at intersections.

But whether a first responder driving to an emergency should be required to slow down at an intersection is a matter of department policy rather than law.

Safe driving advocates said studies show that some people, especially senior citizens, take longer to mentally register the fact that an emergency vehicle is approaching and that they must yield to the first responder.

They say first responders are taught defensive driving techniques and should assume a civilian driver might not hear a siren or see the lights.

The IACP said the most commonly used devices to protect the public when emergency vehicles are racing to a destination are traffic signal preemption systems.

With these systems, emergency vehicles are equipped with sensors that can be activated using the vehicle's emergency warning lights. allowing police to override the traffic signal, giving them a green light and a clear path.

"There has been quite a lot of discussion in recent years about improving the safety of police vehicles and lowering the risk of related injuries and property damage," said Scott Potter, managing partner of Patriot Fleet Group LLC, which works with law enforcement across the country, advising them on how to create safe emergency vehicle systems.

"Intersections are often a focus of these discussions, considered by some to be the primary danger zones for law enforcement vehicles" and the civilian vehicles in their path, Potter said, adding that new technology is in the works that will use brighter LED lights that are strategically placed so the public can see an emergency vehicle approaching from a greater distance.

He said some law enforcement agencies have gone so far as to adopt the controversial policy requiring emergency vehicles to come to a complete stop at red lights while responding to emergencies and only proceeding once the officer has visual confirmation that the intersection is clear. The argument against this policy is that seconds count when responding to a major car accident, shooting or other emergency in which lives are at risk.

Unfortunately, said McKinnis, any improvements or policy changes come too late for her granddaughter.

"We want justice," McKinnis said. "Jalina was a bright, intelligent young girl that was taken from us because of the negligence of a driver who was an officer."

Soto and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd have had a number of public battles over the actions of the sheriff's office.

Soto is now accusing Judd of making "unfounded and inflammatory" remarks to the media about the crash, implying that Jalina wasn't properly restrained.

Harrell said his daughter's body showed injuries from the seat belt she was wearing when the police vehicle crashed into the Kia.

"Sheriff Judd's inflammatory remarks prove his inability to accept responsibility for Sgt. Swann's negligent actions, and we are concerned for the integrity of the investigation," said Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc. in a news release.

The sheriff's office has concluded that both drivers were wearing seatbelts but are still investigating whether the 5-year-old was restrained.

Following Monday's news conference, Judd issued the following statement:

"Here we go again with the PMJA making false accusations and inflammatory statements. This fatal crash investigation by our traffic homicide unit, which is the very best in the business, is still ongoing," he said. "Once the investigation is complete, the full report will be available for inspection under Florida’s public records laws. As we do with all traffic crashes, we release very preliminary information to the media and the public as quickly as possible. To suggest any nefarious conduct by law enforcement is outrageous, and once again diminishes the PMJA’s credibility."

Auburndale Police Chief Terry Storie also released a statement:

"While my deepest sympathies and prayers go out to everyone negatively impacted in this tragic accident, it is prudent for us to wait until all investigations are completed and all facts are gathered in the case before we will make any statements."

Dr. Clayton Cowart, one of the leaders of the Poor and Minority Justice Association, took umbrage with Judd's response, saying, "I don’t think it’s an inflammatory statement just to request transparency, and that’s what I requested."