ST. LOUIS – On Monday, Janae Edmondson’s mother and father got a close-up look at the man suspected of causing a crash that forever changed their daughter’s life.
The face-to-face encounter happened at the first court hearing for Daniel Riley since the violent crash from just over one week ago.
At the detention hearing, defendant Daniel Riley sat before a judge uncuffed, just a few feet from Janae’s parents. They pleaded with a judge to keep Riley locked up.
Riley was out on house arrest for a 2020 robbery charge when he reportedly caused a crash on Feb. 18 that nearly killed Janae Edmonson. Janae’s parents described to the court the agony of telling their daughter she lost both legs. They said it was news they recently shared with her when she awoke after several surgeries.
The judge only allowed media to record video in the courtroom and not audio, but we can tell you that Janae’s father said she cried hearing the news and then told him she loved him. Her mother said Janae asked, “Who did this to me” and asked if he was locked up. Mom also said Janae wanted to know if she will ever walk again or if she’ll ever be able to drive.
The judge ordered Riley to remain locked up without bond, and set his next court hearing for April 4.
This case is the catalyst for Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s attempt at removing St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from office. Just before the Riley hearing, a preliminary order came down from the judge in Bailey’s legal challenge.
The judge assigned to the case said Gardner must reply within 14 days, adding, “If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be taken against you…,” meaning she would have to resign.
The order adds that Gardner can keep her office until everything is decided in the quo warranto challenge.