Disclaimer: All people are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – The father of one of the teenage girls killed and another injured in a crash Wednesday night wants the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to be held accountable.
Deputies pursued the suspected thief, and after the chase was called off, the sheriff’s office says the suspect crashed into the youth’s car.
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Although the father believes that one of his daughters survived the accident, he is still living with what happened, saying that the search was pointless.
Benjamin Smith, the father of 17-year-old Gisselle Smith, who was killed after a suspected thief crashed into his car, is spending most of his time in the hospital.
His other daughter, 20-year-old Paris Kiper, was in the car with Gisselle and 17-year-old Semaj Morris, who was also killed.
Smith says Paris is showing signs of improvement.
“He was on a ventilator when we got here, and they took him off yesterday,” Smith said.
A spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said deputies followed 31-year-old Joneaka Smooth after receiving a report that he and two other women fled Lakeside Mall in an SUV.
The spokesman also said the search was called off after less than a minute and before the accident.
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“I can’t believe that,” Smith said. “Honestly, I don’t think these women would have gone as far as they did if they didn’t have the police behind them, so yeah, I don’t believe that.”
Smooth appeared in court on Friday, December 13, where his bail was set at $565.
Smith also says deputies should have revoked Smooth’s license and searched his home.
Smith is now more difficult for the sheriff’s office than he is for the driver.
“They were shoplifters. They didn’t rob a bank,” said Smith. “I don’t think they should have been followed like that, and for a few hundred dollars, I lost my 17-year-old daughter. I have another one who is still unable to speak, and then there is another young woman who died.”
The father says that he may still have a lawyer if his daughter recovers.
“I feel like I have to go as far as I can to get punished for that because I don’t think it should have happened,” said Smith.
WGNO reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment and has not heard back.
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