Friends and family of Riley Rawlins, and even strangers who sympathize with the tragedy they are experiencing, have signed a petition in hopes of having the driver who struck and killed the teenager arrested and charged.
A couple of weeks ago, we told you about the accident in which a woman sped through a traffic light and hit the Lake Highlands High School junior. That driver, according to police reports, admitted to responding officers that she was speeding at approximately twice the limit to “beat the yellow light”, and she didn’t have a driver’s license.
Since then, neighbors have become increasingly upset increasingly upset by the fact that the woman still has not been charged with a crime.
A petition directed at Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins went online after one Riley family supporter suggested that the only way to get officials to take the case seriously is to contact the DA and pressure him about the case.
“… there’s a good chance the driver will be able to plea-bargain down to a punishment of probation,” Adam Scaramella noted. He added, “If you want to show support for the family, contact the DA’s office at 214.653.3600 and ask if this is going to be taken seriously or ‘pushed through because there’s a lot of cases in the court’.”
So far about 250 people have signed the “Justice for Riley Rawlins” petition and left comments:
“I am sick and tired of people ignoring laws and regulations and getting off lightly. It is time to crack down,” wrote one signer.
“Not one parent alive should mourn the death of their child for such a needless reason,” wrote another. “This family deserves justice. It is obvious that the woman who killed Riley has no regard for any of the numerous laws she broke. She needs to learn a lesson.”
We will continue to to follow this and report back with any new information.
If you have anything to add to the story, please contact me at chughes@advocatemag.com or call or text me at 972.697.8699.
