No charges in accident that killed girl, 7, south of Everett

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, October 5, 2016

EVERETT — Detectives will not recommend charges against a Mukilteo man whose car hit and killed a 7-year-old girl south of Everett earlier this year.

The announcement was made Wednesday after the Snohomish County sheriff’s Collision Investigation Unit completed a forensic review of the accident.

Maimuna Bayo, a first-grade student at Olivia Park Elementary, died May 7.

She had been riding her scooter outside an apartment complex along 111th Street SE when she was struck by a 2006 Infiniti.

The accident occurred around 5:50 p.m. that Saturday. Bystanders performed CPR on the girl before paramedics arrived. The driver, 23, remained at the scene and was cooperative with investigators.

“Based on the results of the investigation, the case has been closed and no charges are being recommended for the driver,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.

Detectives concluded the accident was the result of several factors, none of which were criminal, Ireton said.

The primary cause of the collision “appears to be inattention on the part of the pedestrian,” the report says.

That conclusion was based on apparent failure to exercise caution while riding her scooter in the roadway and riding into the path of the approaching vehicle. The child was not wearing a helmet, officials said.

Detectives also found “some amount of inattention, not amounting to negligence, on the part of the driver.” He was aware children were riding bicycles in the neighborhood and had seen them riding nearby before he started driving.

The fact that the pedestrian entered the roadway and stopped in the path of the four-door sedan outside of the unmarked crosswalk left little time for the driver to react to the pedestrian, Ireton said. Detectives determined that it would not be reasonable to assume the driver should have reacted prior to seeing the pedestrian in the road.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com