Family of girl hit by SUV while trying to catch school bus sues driver and Mead School District

The family of a young girl hit by an SUV while walking to her school bus stop on Pine Glen Road in June 2016 is suing the driver and the Mead School District for negligence.

Molly Miller was a 7-year-old first-grader at the time. The lawsuit filed in Spokane County Superior Court states that she has permanent brain injuries and is now a quadriplegic dependent on a ventilator. She was in a coma for several weeks after she was hit and will require 24-hour care every day for the rest of her life, the lawsuit states.

At the time of the incident the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported that Miller was crossing Pine Glen near Yale Road when she stepped in front of an SUV heading east. An investigation determined that the driver, identified in the lawsuit as Kristi Nave, was not under the influence or driving recklessly, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Mark Gregory. No criminal charges were filed.

“We took the full investigation and put it in front of the prosecutor, who agreed that no charges should be filed,” Gregory said.

The lawsuit alleges that the school district was negligent in picking up Miller in a nondesignated location that forced her to cross the road at an unsafe location in order to catch the bus. Neither the district nor the bus driver told Miller how to cross the road safely, the lawsuit states.

The school district declined to comment Wednesday.

Nave was also negligent for “failing to see what was there to be seen” and “exceeding a reasonably safe speed,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit does not ask for a specific dollar amount, but requests money for medical expenses, lost earning capacity and pain and suffering.