"I feel sorry for her and the burden she has to carry," said Nathaniel Crawford about the woman accused of killing his 19-year-old daughter, Daziah Crawford.
On Wednesday, Alyssa Verbeke, 28, was arraigned on multiple charges including Second Degree Murder and Fleeing a Police Officer in connection with Sunday's deadly crash at Fairport Street and Lappin Street on Detroit's east side.
Warren police had been pursuing Verbeke after they spotted her driving at a high rate of speed.
Warren police said their officer called off the chase when Verbeke went into a residential area in Detroit.
Crawford, who was about to begin her third year at Eastern Michigan University, was driving home from church with her 15-year-old brother.
Verbeke, who police say has a long history of crime including drug-related offenses, took off on foot after crashing into Crawford's vehicle.
Warren police said they later found crack cocaine in her car.
Crawford's family finds it hard to believe that police called off their pursuit because they were on the scene soon enough to arrest Verbeke when she tried to get away on foot.
Nathaniel Crawford said what has added to their pain is that no one from any police department has reached out to his family to offer sympathy or information in the case.
"My daughter deserves so much better," said Mr. Crawford outside 36th District Court where Verbeke was arraigned Wednesday.
Crawford said he only learned that Verbeke would be in court because a relative found the information online.
Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer tells 7 Action News that he's sorry that he has not met with the family and that he plans to talk to them.
Dwyer said he understands their grief and that the officer feels bad, but that he did not break department policy because he called off the chase when they reached a residential area.
Click on the video to hear from the victim's family and see Alyssa Verbeke's arraignment.
