No charges in Serena Deng's death
CBC News
Posted: Feb 3, 2012 4:31 PM ET
Last Updated: Feb 3, 2012 5:22 PM ET
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No charges are being laid in the Sept. 12 death of 17-year-old Serena Deng, Ottawa police told CBC News on Friday.
Deng was killed while trying to walk across Eagleson Road in Kanata, apparently in an effort to catch an OC Transpo bus to the University of Ottawa with a friend.
Ming Deng (left), with his wife Sarah, want the City of Ottawa to redesign Eagleson Road after their daughter died crossing the street. He says a police decision to not lay charges is "incorrect." (CBC)The pair started to dart across the intersection at the lights between the eastbound off-ramp of Highway 417 and an OC Transpo Park and Ride parking lot, when a truck owned by Thomas Cavanagh Construction hit them as it turned right.
Paramedics took Deng to the Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus trauma unit, but she later died from her injuries. Her friend survived with some injuries.
Father says investigation is 'incomplete'
Police Constable Henri Lanctot said the collision investigation section conducted a thorough investigation and determined "no charges will be attached against the driver of the pickup truck," said Lanctot.
Ming Deng, Serena's father, said he still does not have a copy of the police report. He said if the driver is not charged, he will pursue legal action to challenge the finding, which he believes is "incomplete and incorrect".
He and his wife Sarah had called on the City of Ottawa to redesign Eagleson Road.
Flowers were laid where Serena Deng, 17, was killed while trying to cross the intersection at Eagleson Road and the Highway 417 off-ramp on Sept. 12. (CBC)
At the time of the incident, people who cross the intersection daily told CBC News they're often tempted to make a last-minute dash to catch a bus. But it is often a game of chicken, they said, between cars and pedestrians.
Coun. Allan Hubley said the city would ask traffic experts to look at the intersection to determine if there is a safety issue.
"The police investigation found no fault but that doesn't mean we can't make improvements going forward to the intersection and maybe try and find ways to make it easier for pedestrians that want to cross the road," said Hubley.
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