Mother leads March for Justice for her daughter

Shequita Truitt can't understand why her daughter lies dead and buried, but the driver who struck and left her daughter on the side of a Seaford road April 12 is free on bail.

“I'm trying to understand why he's walking around,” Truitt said.

Truitt met with the prosecutor in the case April 24, asking why the driver, Dwayne R. McConnell, 21, was released on $6,151 unsecured bond. 

Carl Kanefsky, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said both Delaware State Police and a Department of Justice prosecutor have requested secured bail for McConnell. Both requests were denied, he said, first by a Justice of the Peace magistrate and then a Sussex County Court of Common Pleas judge. Truitt said she was told the judge gave McConnell a curfew and ordered him to wear an ankle monitor.

“He made three bad choices that day,” Truitt said, alleging that McConnell was texting while driving, although he faces no charge on that count. “When he hit my daughter he had a choice to stop, and he also had a choice to turn himself in.”

Truitt was accompanied in Georgetown by Nia 2X, a representative of the greater Washington, D.C. chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, and local activist Krystle T. Gardner-Blackwell of Lincoln. “We have a killer who is walking around free,” said Nia 2X. “We are questioning the Justice of the Peace status.”

McConnell of Seaford was arrested April 16, two days after Germani Truitt-Handy died in A.I. duPont Hospital where she had been flown following the crash.

Delaware State Police charged McConnell with operation of a vehicle causing death of another person, inattentive driving, leaving scene of a collision resulting in death, failure to report a collision resulting in injury or death, and possession of marijuana. He was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 2 and released on $6,151 unsecured bond. Only one charge is a felony – leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death.

 In Delaware, charges are filed by an arresting authority, typically a police department, or by grand jury. A Justice of the Peace magistrate arraigns a person on the charges and also sets bail. Magistrates are given a guideline with a range of bail amounts they can set depending on the charge.

“The Department of Justice extends its sympathies to the family and friends of Germani Truitt-Handy. The prosecutor on the case, who met with the family yesterday to answer many of their questions as the prosecution begins, will work to bring justice in the case,” Kanefsky said.

Neither Sean O’Sullivan, spokesman for Delaware courts, or Master Cpl. Melissa Jaffe of the Delaware State Police would comment on bail or charges because the case is active.

Rally for justice

Truitt, Nia 2X and more than 100 people took part in a March for Justice April 24 though the streets of Seaford demanding justice for Germani's death.

Some carried signs with pictures of the vivacious girl; others wore shirts in her memory.

During a rally after the march, Nia 2X reiterated the need for justice in this case.

“We want and demand and deserve justice,” she said. “You have to keep faithful and lift up this family in prayer.”

Speaking about the driver, Nia 2X said, “He didn’t even have the compassion to get out of the car; he left her. And he is free. That is why we are here today, because we share a common compassion.”

Truitt thanked the crowd for attending the rally and remembering Germani.

“All I want is justice for my daughter,” she said.

Drivers in fatal crashes face low bail, no bail

In past crashes that caused death, drivers have faced a range of charges and sometimes no charges. Bail is rarely set; low bail or no bail often sparks dismay among surviving family members.

In 2015, four pedestrians were killed while crossing Route 1 at different points along a 5-mile stretch. One driver received no charges for a crash that killed two people. Another, who struck and killed an elderly man and critically injured his wife, was allowed to take part in the first offenders program for driving under the influence. The program is meant for people who have not killed another; however, the Attorney General's Office allowed him to enroll in it. On the night of the crash, he was released to the custody of a friend.

In another crash, a Dover attorney was charged with misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle causing death nearly a year after he struck and killed a man crossing Route 1. The day of the crash, however, he was released on his own recognizance while police investigated. The attorney was eventually charged and immediately pleaded guilty in Sussex County Superior Court.

Recent fatal crashes have shown similar outcomes.

On April 24, a Harrington man driving north in a southbound section of Route 1 near Milford was charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular assault, driving under the influence and other charges after police say he crashed into another car, killing a Millsboro man and critically injuring a passenger. He was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Department of Correction in default of $7,000 secured bail.

In a fatal pedestrian crash April 22 in Dover, police are investigating after they say a Milton man struck and killed a woman crossing Route 13 before stopping two miles away. To date, no charges have been filed.

A September 2017 crash that took the life of WBOC owner Tom Draper as he rode his bicycle along Slaughter Neck Road resulted in charges issued three months after the crash. Shawn Armstrong, 37, of Lewes was charged Jan. 10 with misdemeanor operation of a vehicle causing the death of another person, and inattentive driving. A trial is scheduled for June 11.