A Georgia mother is mourning the loss of her 6-year-old daughter killed in a fatal car accident while visiting her grandmother in Long Island, New York.
The grieving mom hopes the judge throws the book at her child’s killer when he goes to trial.
Only days away from starting first grade at College Park Elementary School just south of Atlanta, Chantel Bailee Solomon lost her life after a man police say was a drunk driver speeding 120.5 mph hit the car she was in.
One of Chantel’s last memories was piling into the car to go get ice cream with family at around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6. The family was celebrating their patriarch getting a new job. However, the celebration was short-lived after a collision with the driver Michael DeAngelo.
The high-speed car crash happened at Sunrise Highway and Unqua Road in East Massapequa and instantly killed three people, injuring others. Chantel and an 18-year-old girl in the car were injured and taken to the hospital.
According to Chantel’s mother, Divina Hamilton, the three people who died immediately in the crash were her stepfather Patrice Huntley and his 13-year-old daughter Hannah Huntley and 11-year-old son Jeremiah, who were Hamilton’s younger sister and brother.
Patrice Huntley, 60, was a U.S. Marine veteran and was a grandfather figure to the small girl.
“I was at the first scene in Massapequa yesterday, it was a horrific accident because of somebody driving excessively at fast speeds on our roads in Nassau County,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said, according to ABC 7 News.
The young girl succumbed to her injuries around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, according to a GoFundMe.
The mother said that she prays the “man gets the maximum” sentence for taking her child away.
Hamilton says with schools opening up, the loss of her young daughter is hitting her even harder.
“Seeing little kids, it hurts my feelings to see other little kids that’s around her age. It hurts me to see school buses. It’s a lot. I break down every day since she died,” she said in an interview with WSB-TV.
The bereaved mother is angry with the driver and wants justice.
“I just want him to realize the impact of what he’s done,” she said.
DeAngelo was taken into custody and formally charged at a Long Island hospital. He is facing a slew of charges, including multiple instances of aggravated vehicular manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, and driving while intoxicated.
Detectives found cocaine and fentanyl in his system but noted it was the speed of the car that caused the deadly accident.
Before the case goes to criminal court, the family is left picking up the pieces. Hamilton and Chantel’s father, Lancaster Solomon, are looking to bury their daughter and asking for support via a crowdfunding campaign. Over 12 days, the family has raised $15,924 out of the $40,000 goal as of this writing.
