19-year-old woman killed in hit and run – previously cited for being in street
I read this short article in the Blade, 19-year-old woman killed in hit and run:
Sasha Kemp was standing in the street, on Central Avenue near Jackman Road, trying to flag down a car when she was hit by another vehicle at 1:50 a.m., Toledo police Sgt. Mark Evanoff said. The driver of the car that struck Ms. Kemp then crashed into a fence at nearby Woodlawn Cemetery. The driver fled on foot, Sergeant Evanoff said.
Ms. Kemp was taken to Toledo Hospital, where she died last evening, hospital officials said.
The discussion of why people would be in the middle of the street and the police citing people for loitering while being in the middle of the street has been discussed here before. I started to wonder why Sasha Kemp was standing in the street, so I started to do some research and discovered a Sasha Kemp of approximately the same age was arrested for, Loitering; Obstruct Free Passage of Pedestrians or Vehicles back on March 1, 2007. After her release she failed to appear, then when she was re-arrested for some other charges including driving while under the influence, she was released on a Federal Court Order Bond on 8/20/07. All of the charges she was facing were consolidated and the trial was scheduled for this upcoming Thursday, 9/27/07.
It’s important to point out that it’s possible this could be a different 19 year old Sasha Kemp and if it is not, she had not been found guilty of any of the charges she is currently facing, a, including a drinking related charge and a disorderly conduct charge from 2006, she did not appear for those charges either and the 2006 charges were also added to the ones scheduled for trial this month. The driver who struck Sasha Kemp will now face more charges from fleeing the scene, the panic of knowing you have struck someone is understandable though wrong, since the end result is typically more severe from fleeing a scene. However, this incident does demonstrate that the police cracking down on people loitering in a street could be based on avoiding a scenario exactly like this one.
This also points out some of the issues our legal system faces, people are arrested then released then when they are arrested again they are re-released, most of those released are done so due to the Federal Court Order Bond. The Federal Court Order Bond is in place due to overcrowding issues and means that even if a cash bond is set, the Sheriff who is in charge of the Lucas County Jail orders the release of prisoners to keep within the number of prisoners allowed to be held.
Maybe instead of building an arena, we should be building a jail. A really, really big one.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:25 pmThere are people that suggested that instead of building an arena since the jail has needed to be replaced for some time now.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 pmDamn skippy we need a new jail. The current jail can only house a lil over 400 inmates….we have thousands that need to be jailed. If the County has so much money…why has the jail facility gone un-touched?
I firmly believe that if the sentences were harsher, the jail time give actually served to the day, and the 3 strikes rule applied accross the board, we’d have a lot less new crime.
This also goes into my comments on minors and punishment. This young woman was only 19. What a criminal for that young age..and a female no less. Had she recieved the proper punishments as a child and teen, she would likely still be alive now.
I hear this time and time again, “I cannot control him/her, they are wild and they don’t listen.” Enough with the excuses!!! It’s not that most children are wild and out of self-control, no..it’s most parents don’t have the stomach to do what has to be done to get that child’s attention. Parenting is a dictatorship, not a democrocy. The sooner parents re-take the helm of child rearing, drop their fears of what “looks” right and do what IS right, the more likely they will turn out a productive member of society rather than a thug/thugess.
September 24th, 2007 at 6:07 amJust a thought avout about kids and what they choose to do when they leave the nest.
My oldest is now 28 and has steared clear of influences and is now in a stable relationship.
My youngest, now 21, gave birth to a child in July. Is on assistance in Washington, state and is looking for work to get off assistance and really wants to get her own place and be a good mom.
Both were raised by their mom and me and we used the same tactics with both and yet look at the differences.
It is too bad that Ms. Sasha choose to stand in our near the road and lost her life.
Perhaps more will learn from the episode.
September 24th, 2007 at 7:19 amwhether sasha was right or wrong, she was hit by an irresponsible driver that left her the street to die while they fled. they will pay when caught and they will be caught.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:29 amDear Chad,
With all your “great” ideas, why dont you step up the plate and instead of complaining on this website about everything local officials do or propose, you run and lets see how you do. My bet, you dont garner 20% of the vote. Here comes party establishment excuses, and whatever other excuses you might have. However you did just see Geen party canidate Dave Ball move through the primary. I have just had enough of your complaints, everything that is posted you have to throw your worthless two cents. we dont need a bigger jail, we need better schools, and better job prospects for young people in this county. Bigger jails haven’t solved a thing, young people come out of jail with a better understanding criminality. It has been proven over and over, somthing like 2\3 of the jailed will be back, you need to start thinking outside of the box, in order to have some sort of success in this horrible cycle of poverty, criminality, and lack of education
September 24th, 2007 at 9:32 amI think there needs to be a balance of both, more opportunities yet the reality is right now even if you are a violent offender due to jail over crowding you can expect to be released and then not show up again. It bogs the court system down as well with the non-appearance/arrest/release non-appearance/arrest/release cycle.
Jail is not the only solution, and I think we would all agree with that.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:50 amDear Star….. This is a public fourm, so my 2 cents worth is my view. Your 2 cents worth is yours. If you don’t like my posts..don’t read them. Social problems like poverty and lack of education are serious issues, but becoming a criminal, using those issues as an excuse..now that’s going too far. Once a person breaks the law, the opportunity to educate them is passed. If the 1st offense brought the full weight of the law down on a person, they would be less likely to commit the crime again. Letting em off easy on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd offense(s) creates the lack of fear of the system that they enjoy now.
When a young person commits a crime, that is the time to come down hard and fast. I do not believe it’s my job, or the job of a taxpayer to solve the stability problems of an individual’s choices. While I support substance abuse programs, I do not think that it should be an either/or consequence. I think both should be applied. Jail and treatment while in jail. When you get virtually away with something, you will do it and more again. A warning shot is not enough in today’s society.
I have personal experience with a life long felon attacking my wife after just a year on parole, being walked thru and released. He then returned to the scene of the crime to continue his terrorizing of my wife and our friends. It took a lot of work to get him back behind bars. He was Sheriff released after just a month…over crowding.
I’ve lived in the OSE and the OWE since moving to Toledo 12 years ago. In these tweo neighborhoods alone, there is a likely 30% of the population that would be behind bars if space allowed. So, yes, we need more jail space and more cops, prosecutors and the stringent application of punishments.
It is a choice to steal, it is a choice to become a crackhead and it is a choice to commit a crime. I agree that we need jobs and opportunities for young adults as well as children and older adults. I agree that we need to train young people the difference between right and wrong.
I do not think that the burden of their mis-deeds is my responsibility. I do not believe that a offender should be let go easy for a 1st offense. I do believe we should hold parents as responsible for their children’s actions as the child themselves.
You cannot fix everybody. Some people do not want to be fixed. They do not want to change and they enjoy the thugery of their chosen behavior. IMO..a person that gets drunk, drives and kills somebody is not just sick, they are IMO just as guilty of murder as a person that shoots someone. Should they recieve my tax dollar support for rehab?? Perhaps, but not w/o a lengthy jail sentence to go with it.
In this world, there are well behaved , responsible people and then there are people that are just bad for society. Those that are not willing to change, nor corrected by the system are taking up all the dollars that wouold help those that would be willing to change.
I advocate programs for the under 16 age group. I think by educating them before they are set in their ways is the key to success. But once a person hits the mid-teens, changing their way of thinking often takes an act of God. Once they have become set to the criminal way of life, no amount of taxpayer money is going to rehab them. They just abuse the priviledge and continue to casue mahem. This is where the jails come in.
If life circumstances create the monsters..then explain how I am a productive and well rounded individual?? My background was poverty, abuse, lack of education, addiction and so on, yet I’m not out making trouble in the world at large, breaking laws all the time and rupturing society.
Nope, I have an 11 year marriage, a home, education, a healthy lifestyle and try every day to help others. I am already working with people in my neighborhood, trying to help them face their life challenges.
Just becasue I think our politcal machine here in T-Town blows, doesn’t mean I think it’s beyond repair. And just so ya know, I may well be running for office in the near future and we will see about that 20%
September 24th, 2007 at 10:28 amMaybe they could turn Southwyck into a jail!
September 24th, 2007 at 10:59 amIt sounds to me that Sasha Kemp just wasn’t wrapped too tight.
Be a lot more jobs if we had a lot more prisoners. We could have one guard for every four prisoners. Let’s see, 30% of Toledoans behind bars, that’s 100,000. That’s 25,000 guards plus the administrative personnel. We are talking about a new industry. Maybe we can convert the old schools to prisons. The Department of Corrections for Toledo would be the largest employer in the city, county, maybe in the region. There’s got to be a better way. Maybe we need our own Siberia, or gulag.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:08 amWell… I guess this young lady learned her lesson the hard way. Wonder why she was standing in the middle of the street, trying to wave down a car. Isn’t there a gas station that she could have made a call, near that intersection (if she was looking for help)? It seems to me that she was probably up to no good.
As for the person who hit her and took off he/she was probably drunk or high. Or the car was stolen.
September 24th, 2007 at 1:11 pm“Chad Quigley Said: on 9-24-2007 @10:28 am
My background was poverty, abuse, lack of education, addiction and so on, yet I’m not out making trouble in the world at large, breaking laws all the time and rupturing society.”
Which is very much commendable and which should also show us that each is different and some do not see the light of what ever source and they may need more work or help to reach further in life and why we should not be so quick to condemn.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:36 pmIt is not the responsibility of Government or the taxpayer to determine the mental attributes of an individual. It’s not the job of Courts to determine if a person is a social experiment or not. A Government and it’s Court system is there to deal with criminals acording to law. Trying to utilize the wrong agency or format to solve the social imballances is moronic.
Do the crime..do the time. If you survive the time, then you can be offered help via a social service agency. You should and can, in most cases recieve drug and alcohol treatment while doing time. Captive audience and all.
I’m all for helping people overcome their vices, but not without justice being dealt out first. If you want/need help, ask for it before you find yourself in front of a Judge. If you’re not that smart, then suffer. It’s been my experience that people do not learn during good times. They learn during adversity. I had a choice to make at 16, we all do..follow the right path or fall over the rocks on the wrong side. Common sense is not a learned ideal..it’s a natural set of knowledge given to all, if you fail to develop yours at an early age, that’s not my problem.
I also believe that no matter what life pattern you have lived, almost everyone knows by gut, the difference between right and wrong. Making excuses for bad behavior as a result of your upbringing is a copout.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:41 pm“I also believe that no matter what life pattern you have lived, almost everyone knows by gut, the difference between right and wrong. Making excuses for bad behavior as a result of your upbringing is a copout.”
Let us remember that one of the past efforts to reduce dependency on government and social agencies was to close down hospitals and cut back on funding for the agencies and that in turn pushed some people to the streets.
“Making excuses for bad behavior as a result of your upbringing is a copout.”
Is it an excuse if a person truly suffered at the hands of another or others and did not seek the help they needed as their world was one of abuse and was the norm so doing what they did was normal in their world.
Look at it through your eyes and the dialog you are writing and maybe they have not gotten to the same point as others and need a bit more help to make it.
September 25th, 2007 at 7:09 amI’m not saying it’s easy to overcome anything nc. And yes, I advocate education at early ages. I would love to be able to open a youth center right here in my neighborhood. A place that would educate and assist the youth and their parents in learning how to climb out of bad situations and strive for a better life. I would enjoy seeing how a group of people can learn to overcome what is common and become the uncommon.
Some people are damaged, hell, I’m damaged. It stil boils down to personal choice and responsibility. Unless the person(people) fall under mentally ill, then what’s the excuse?? “My family/culture/lifestyle has always done this”…bullcrap.
My cheif point is that the Jails, Courts and Justice system are not in the business of social experiments, mental health or classisim. They are there to deal with crime, the results of crime and the perps that commit the crime(s). While I support a limited “1st time offender” program, I would not extend that to letting em off the hook for the do the time aspect. The “Do it once, you’re the fool, do it twice, I’m the fool” therory applies here.
Warning shots don’t work, diversion programs don’t work, catch and release doesn’t work. Drug free America doesn’t work, shutting down the State hospitals and publicly funded treatment programs didn’t work. the current application of the legal system doesn’t work.
What does work?? Scaring the crap out of someone usually works. Hard and uncomfortable labor works. Isolation works. Strict enforcement of law works. Making a person serve the full time for the crime works. Capturing and re-training the youth works.
I know that some people don’t even realize they have a problem until they come in front of a Judge or a “System” entity, but that doesn’t excuse the behavior. Ignorance is not an excuse. The information is out there and the strong survive, the weak need some help. Part of learning is paying the price for a mistake, even if you claim to be un-aware of the mistake.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:22 amUntil you see what I have seen dude needs to be under the jail for leaving her……………Bottom line………
September 25th, 2007 at 8:48 amSasha’s family
Sounds like two drivers from the updated Blade Article
I have a hard time understanding how the Police don’t have any information on the two drivers, especially the one who left the car at the scene. Unless the car was stolen it seems as if it would be pretty easy to trace.
I agree with your bottom line though, those who hit her should come forward. If it truly was unavoidable, fleeing the scene isn’t going to help anyone. If you are truly a family member, I can understand no matter the reason that led up to her death it is a difficult time for your family. It’s never easy to lose someone you love, especially not like she died.
September 25th, 2007 at 11:05 amI did not suggest that the driver(s) should not be caught and punished for leaving her. That crime is just inexcusable.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:32 pmWhether my baby sister was a so called “criminal”, isnt the fuckin point. Some of you people get on my damn nerves! She lost her life. Every time some one dies you dumb ass people always try to pull up dirt on them. To the stupid ass editor who wrote this article. She did’nt even know how to drive so how the fuck did she get caught driving drunk? Don’t make up shit about her bitch, to make her look bad. Most of you pe ople need to get a life. What if it was you that got hit by two cars, then you die cause your brain decided to swell up.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:07 amWOW, you’ve really got a way with words there “big sister”. If you’d have actually taken the time to read the entire post that was written by the “editor”, you’d have seen that she wrote this:
Not once in the original post was it stated anywhere that the information given was known for sure to be the same Sasha Kemp that was hit and killed in the accident, nor did the editor EVER say anything disrespectful about Sasha Kemp. I also think it’s a wonderful tribute to Sasha Kemp for you to come here and post such an eloquent comment nearly a year later, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughtful words of wisdom with us!
August 6th, 2008 at 3:11 pm