A grieving family is speaking out about the horrific hit-and-run in South Beach that took the life of their mother, and they said that what a police officer is accused of not doing is only adding to their pain.
The sons of Esmat Ahmed Ibrahim Khedr spoke with 7News over the phone on Tuesday night about the April 28 crash in front of the Miami Beach Police station on Washington Avenue.
“We’re still suffering from it now,” said one of Ibrahim Khedr’s sons. “Nothing can bring my mom back. It was a very bad moment. It was very difficult.”
Ibrahim Khedr’s sons described the loss of a generous, loving, hardworking mother and grandmother from Egypt who had immigrated to South Florida in search of a better life.
“She’s a person taking care of everyone,” said one of her sons. “She always needed people to be happy around her. She’s a very kind person.”
The victims’ sons, who asked not to be identified, spoke with 7News from out of the country after they were shown the surveillance video of the crash.
“Our thoughts, like, you know, we couldn’t imagine, first of all, something like that could happen. Accidents can happen anywhere, but hit-and-run, this is something so bad,” said one of her sons.
Several angles of surveillance video obtained exclusively by 7News shows a blue Ford Bronco when, according to the police report, it “sideswiped the victim’s electric bicycle, and the victim was ejected from [her] bicycle, striking her head against the raised curb.”
Paramedics rushed the 63-year-old victim was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead.
“When you see one of your family members taken in a crime, it’s always you feel bad, you feel like, ‘I need justice,’” said one of her sons.
To a family still in mourning the focus is justice and healing, and that’s proving to be especially hard for the late victim’s husband.
“Every day he’s taking his lunch to my mother’s grave and eating [at] the grave, because he needs to feel she’s still alive and she’s eating with him,” said one of her sons.
The tragedy also came with a felony and the hunt for the driver, as detectives reported different witnesses told them, “The subject look[ed] back through his passenger side mirror and shrug[ged] his shoulders as he sped away from the scene.”
Police said the driver of the Bronco was heading southbound on Washington Avenue at the time of the crash.
Investigators learned that before and during the crash, the suspect was following an acquaintance who was driving another Bronco, a gray one also seen in the surveillance video.
That acquaintance is said to have told detectives that after seeing the aftermath of the wreck, he “tried to convince the subject to return to the scene, and the subject stated that he was not going back to jail.”
The acquaintance added that that he worried that if it got out that he helped police, “the subject will shoot and kill him.”
Days later, police caught up with the suspect. Demarcus Harrington was busted in Broward County, then transferred to Miami-Dade. He was charged with leaving the scene of a crash causing death.
Seconds after the crash, the security footage also shows a police SUV pulling up to Washington Avenue while on 11th Street, as witnesses frantically rendered aid to the injured woman.
Pedestrians were seen flagging that officer down, but despite the tense emergency on his left, he made right turn and headed south on Washington.
7News learned this was Miami Beach Police Officer Edward Cavalie, who became the subject of an internal affairs investigation.
In response to 7News’ inquiry, Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne Jones stated, “After a comprehensive investigation, Mr. Cavalie’s employment was terminated immediately.”
Jones also stated, “Mr. Cavalie’s actions are not indicative of the dedication and professionalism of the hardworking men and women of the Miami Beach Police Department. Our prayers remain with the victim of this tragic incident.”
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Source: wsvn
