EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — A 13-year-old girl is dead after a chase ended in a crash in East Cleveland Friday afternoon.
According to Cleveland police, the ordeal began around 3:20 p.m. at the Target on West 117th Street when a woman left the store and was carjacked by another teen at gunpoint. The boy took her car, but she was unhurt.
An off-duty police officer apparently witnesses the robbery and trailed the stolen car onto Interstate 90 eastbound. At this point, an on-duty supervisor from the division's second district took over, and a chase ensued all the way through the city and into East Cleveland.
The chase ended near Euclid and Lakefront Avenues in East Cleveland when the alleged stolen vehicle crashed. East Cleveland police say the 13-year-old had been walking home from school when she was hit in the incident.
"Unfortunately my son had to see that crash and the grandmother was very sad, she was in tears when she was leaving to go to the hospital where her granddaughter was pronounced dead at the scene," explains Tina Milton.
Milton was on her way to a Christmas Party at the East Cleveland Library with her 9-year-old son A.J.
She believes people and police need to be more cautious.
"There's a lot of kids walking, we're just getting out of school so the streets were filled with kids, take some precaution you know, just stop, it wasn't that deep."
East Cleveland City Schools confirmed the deceased girl's identity as Tamia Chappman, a sixth grader at Superior Elementary School. Although winter break began today, the district says counseling will be offered for students and staff starting Monday.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene, while a second male suspect fled on foot and is still at-large.
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story stated that the victim was a student at Heritage Middle School. This was based on information given to 3News by police, but has since been corrected and updated.
