Just 12 days after she and her family moved to Clarkston from Nepal for a “better life,” 6-year-old Suk Maya Monger was dead, run down by an SUV driver illegally passing a stopped MARTA bus, police said.
“Today would have been her first day at Indian Creek Elementary,” Clarkston Police Chief Tony Scipio told reporters Wednesday, just hours after Suk Maya died of head and internal injuries.
Her parents and her 10-year-old brother, refugees relocated to the Atlanta suburb, are in “disbelief”, the chief said. They don’t understand U.S. laws and culture, they do not speak English and they have no relatives here, according to Scipio.
Gregory Armwood, 44, of Covington initially was charged after the accident Tuesday afternoon with illegally passing on a double line. Scipio said Armwood would be charged with a felony but specifics were still being discussed.
Armwood was expected to turn himself in at the DeKalb County Jail at 9 a.m. today, but had not surrendered as of 9:30 a.m. He has retained an attorney, Scipio said late Wednesday.
Dhana Pati, the Mongers’ neighbor in Nepal, said he had become the Mongers’ only “family” in the United States
“Very cute, very nice girl,” said Pati, who left Nepal last October. “It’s sad for the people like us. We were hoping for something good for us.”
The International Rescue Committee had relocated the family to Clarkston less than two weeks ago. The parents did not yet have jobs, and they don’t have money to pay for their daughter’s cremation, the chief said.
“They moved here for a better life,” Scipio said.
A Clarkston police officer parked on the shoulder of Ponce de Leon Avenue witnessed the accident, Scipio said. The officer had just written six tickets to other drivers for passing on a double line and he was about to go after Armwood when Sukmaya was hit.
Scipio said Armwood saw the patrolman on the side of the road and “he still passed another vehicle.”
At the same moment the red 1998 Lincoln Navigator sped past a stopped car and then the bus, the little girl, her disabled mother and a neighbor passed in front of the bus and into the SUV’s path, Scipio said.
Scipio said Armwood was calm after the accident though still “kind of shocked” that he allegedly hit Sukmaya.
According to state records, Armwood has had a number of traffic offenses since 1992, including DUI, running stop signs and red lights and causing accidents and speeding by as much as 33 mph over the posted speed limit. His most recent conviction was in DeKalb County on Sept. 9, 2003, for driving 75 mph in a 55 mph zone.
“Drivers have got to follow the rules of the road,” Scipio said. “The record of this driver [suggests he] has no regard for the law.”
The AJC’s John Spink and Alexis Stevens contributed to this report.
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