Last month, a Black woman was fatally hit by a Houston Police Department vehicle. Now, the officer that was responsible for her death is back on duty — and the victim’s family is outraged.
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On Thursday, Sept. 19, 41-year-old Desire Pool had just gotten off the bus with her three children when she was was hit and killed after Officer Shelby Kennedy drove into a group of people.
Everyone was able to jump out of the way except for Pool.
According to local news outlet ABC 13, witnesses said Pool may have dropped her bus card in the middle of the street and was bending down to pick it up when she was hit.
The Houston Police Department released dashcam video footage of the tragedy. In the footage, a suspect in the backseat who was being transported to the Joint Processing Center yelled when the HPD vehicle hit the victim.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! You didn’t see them?” he exclaimed in the video.
“No!” Kennedy replied.
Kennedy’s body camera video also showed Pool’s children crying and screaming by their mother’s side. Officers administered CPR and called for an ambulance, but Pool was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Pool’s mother, Patricia Barnes, says Officer Kennedy should have paid attention to the road. “What was she doing that she didn’t see these people in the street?” Barnes asked.
“Her passenger saw them, and he wasn’t even driving.”
She also expressed anger that Kennedy is still on the force after being placed on administrative leave during an investigation of the incident.
“I’m not going to let this go. This was a mother, a sister, a daughter, a cousin, a friend,” Barnes said.
“Kennedy needs to take accountability for what she did. There needs to be some type of punishment. She should not be able to go back to work.”
Houston Police Department disclosed that they are currently conducting two investigations at this time, one with their internal affairs department and the other with their vehicular crimes division.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is also conducting their own independent investigation.
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