MINNEAPOLIS — Andrea and Juan Broome want people to know how caring their artistic 16-year-old daughter, De'Miaya, was.
“She cared about people. She cared about animals. She was just a loving person,” Juan Broome said.
De'Miaya came from a blended family with 13 brothers and sisters. She was killed early Saturday morning after she was hit by a car — along with several others — in downtown Minneapolis.
“The main thing I would like people to know is that she wasn't a bad kid. She wasn't a troubled kid,” Juan Broome said. “She was raised in church. She believed in God. Like my wife said, she loved poetry. She loved art.”
Minneapolis police say the driver targeted the group after a fight or argument.
According to police, the fight happened right in the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street. They said the driver then backed up on Hennepin, turned the wrong way onto 5th and started driving the wrong way on the one-way street, plowing through the crowd.
A memorial made of balloons and candles now marks the spot. Police said they arrested the driver, a 22-year-old woman after witnesses followed her and prevented her from getting away.
De'Miaya's family is heartbroken and thinking of the others hurt.
“First of all, we would like the other families to get through what they're going through. We wouldn't want anybody to go through what we're going through,” Juan Broome said. “We would just like the person who did this, everyone involved, to be held accountable.”
Click here to view the GoFundMe.