CREDIT: Janae Edmonson. PHOTO: GOFUNDME
CV NEWS FEED // A talented high school volleyball player is battling for her life after being hit by a car driven by a released St. Louis felon – and now, officials in Missouri are working to remove George Soros-backed Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner because of her failure to put the criminal behind bars.
Janae Edmonson, 17, was hit by a vehicle and lost both her legs while visiting St. Louis with her team and family on February 18. The Tennessee volleyball standout had just accepted a scholarship to play at The University of Tennessee Southern, which the school says it will still honor despite the double-amputation that has effectively ended her career.
Records show 21-year-old Daniel Riley, who was out on bail awaiting a trial for a 2020 felony armed robbery, didn’t have a driver’s license when he was speeding, failed to yield, and caused the collision.
“Sadly, we’re seeing the real-world effects of woke politics play out again and again,” said CatholicVote Communications Director Joshua Mercer:
Catholic teaching is clear that the state has a responsibility to ensure justice for victims and preserve and protect the public order. When woke prosecutors like Kim Gardner pursue neither, innocent victims like Janae pay the price.
Riley had been set to go to trial last summer, but sources indicate Gardner’s office wasn’t ready or wasn’t willing to pursue prosecution. Instead, Riley was put on house arrest with a GPS tracker, which local news sources reported he violated more than 100 times in lead-up to the accident.
Following a public outcry, including calls from Democratic officials for Gardner to step down, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey gave her an ultimatum: resign or be removed.
“This is about a quantum of evidence that demonstrates her failure to prosecute cases, failure to inform and confer with victims in cases, and failure to file new cases that are referred by law enforcement agencies,” Bailey said.
“The driver of the speeding vehicle, Daniel Riley, should never have been in that car. He is a dangerous gunman who should have been in jail,” a statement from Bailey’s office said.
But Gardner, who has taken more than $200,000 in campaign contributions from organizations linked to left-wing billionaire George Soros, refused to resign. Instead, she painted herself as the victim of racist attacks and claimed her office did everything it could.
Terry Niehoff, Riley’s defense attorney, disputed that claim.
“Gardner never took an interest in this story until it became news,” he said.
This isn’t the first time Gardner has come under fire for her soft-on-crime policies, including failures to enforce bond conditions, hiding evidence, and failure to prosecute dangerous criminals.
The wife of retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn, who was killed during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 by a repeat felony offender, blames Gardner for the death of her husband, saying criminals in the city get more rights than victims:
She says that we’re bullying her. You know, that we don’t like her because she’s a woman… because she’s African-American – and it has nothing to do with that. You’re put in a position to do your job. Crime is not political.
Soros has spent approximately $40 million in recent years to elect what critics call “woke” and “soft-on-crime” district attorneys and circuit attorneys throughout the United States. The Hungarian atheist has a long track record of financing left-wing public campaigns and claims that “reform-minded prosecutors” have an agenda that promotes safety and justice.
Mercer says that’s a lie.
“Geroge Soros hasn’t just taken aim at the Catholic Church and been one of the largest spenders for the abortion-on-demand agenda, but his bought-and-paid-for woke prosecutors encourage lawlessness, harm law-abiding residents, and create war zones in some of America’s biggest cities.”
Gardner’s own website states that she has “made jail and prison a last resort, reserved for those who pose a true public safety risk.”
A growing chorus of critics say the result has been a spike in violent crime in St. Louis under her watch. Even as Gardner was defending herself Monday, an execution-style murder in broad daylight rocked the city.
While Gardner remains defiant, Edmonson is learning to “do life again” according to her parents. Earlier this week, they went before a judge to ask that Riley be denied bail due to his dangerous history and failure to abide by the terms of his previous house arrest.
According to her father, it’s what Janae wants.
“She said: ‘I hope he doesn’t hurt anyone else like he did me.’”
