Parents of Seattle middle school student killed in crash want answers

The parents of a 12-year-old student who was killed in a crash outside Seattle’s Washington Middle School last week are searching for answers about their daughter’s death.

On March 6, Arsema Barekew was hit by a rolling car outside the school.

“All she would have wanted is the same thing as me,” her father, Berihun Mekonnen, told The Seattle Times through a translator. “The truth.”

The car rolled backward about 75 yards down a slight hill, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) said right after it happened. It is believed the driver did not set the parking brake.

Daniel Ajema, the family’s attorney, told The Seattle Times that police were too quick to dismiss Arsema’s death as an accident.

SPD Detective Brian Pritchard told The Seattle Times investigators are “working as hard as they can.”

“This is something they want to make sure they get right,” Pritchard said. “We want to make sure (the family feels) comfortable with the investigation that’s going on, and that they know detectives are doing the best that they can do.”

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones and Washington Middle School Principal Adrian Manriquez released statements following the incident.

“My heart is heavy with sorrow as we face the devastating loss of a Washington Middle School student,” Jones said in a statement. “I am deeply saddened by this tragedy, and my thoughts and condolences are with the student’s family, friends, and the entire Washington community during this incredibly difficult time.”

But Ajema told The Seattle Times that no one from the school or the district contacted them until almost a week later. He said Superintendent Brent Jones and several staff members visited the family at their apartment complex on Wednesday morning and apologized for their “poor communication.”

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