News

Actions

Families of three teens who drowned after crashing into pond following deputy pursuit demand justice

Posted at 5:47 AM, Mar 31, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-31 17:24:46-04

It was one year ago that three young girls died in a Pinellas county pond after being pursued by deputies.

Friday, the mother of one of those teens announcing she plans to sue the sheriff's office.

The families maintain that Pinellas county deputies did not do enough to save those young girls when that car plunged into the pond. A press conference is set for 10 Friday morning to discuss the lawsuit.

At the time this happened, deputies were pursuing the girls in a stolen car.

Dominique Battle, Ashaunti Butler, and La'Niyah Miller all died when they couldn't make it out of the car.

The mother of Dominique Battle is filing suit claiming the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office negligent actions caused the drowning deaths of  the three girls.

"I want Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and those seventeen other officers to be held accountable for their actions that night," she said.

For their part, the sheriff's office has said deputies did what they could to save the girls. They maintain it was dark at the time and a dangerous situation for all involved.

""If they really thought they had a claim," he asked reporters during a news conference on Friday, "why didn't they file this a year ago?"

ORIGINAL STORY | Three teens found dead in stolen car that crashed into pond

THE LATEST | Source: Mother plans to sue Pinellas authorities over death of three girls in St. Pete pond