ST. LOUIS – The man charged in connection with a crash that resulted in a Tennessee teen losing her legs was arraigned this morning in downtown St. Louis. The arraignment fo Daniel Riley, 21, took place inside the Carnahan Courthouse in Division 25.
The indictment charged Riley with five counts from the crash, which left 17-year-old Janae Edmondson critically injured. Riley’s attorney, Dan Diemer, entered a not guilty plea for Riley. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office had a representative in the courtroom.
Riley was not in court, nor did he appear on video for the arraignment. Diemer waived the formal reading of the charges, instead just entering a not guilty plea for Riley. No one from Janae’s family was in court either.
The charges against Riley included three counts of assault, one of which is a felony, one count of armed criminal action, also a felony, and one count of driving without a license.
Janae was in town for a volleyball tournament when the horrible crash happened at 11th and St. Charles downtown back on February 18th. Authorities say Janae was walking back to her hotel with her family when Riley, who was behind the wheel of a car, failed to yield at the intersection, causing a violent crash.
Janae ended up pinned between two vehicles and had to have both of her legs amputated. She was hospitalized for a while in St. Louis but is now back home in Tennessee continuing her recovery.
At the time of the crash, Riley was out on bond in a 2020 robbery case. He had violated the terms of his bond many times but was never put back behind bars. Riley has been jailed without bond since the crash happened.
The case has been assigned to Division 17 and Judge David Mason. The next court date in the case is May 16th.
Diemer declined to do an on-camera interview at this point saying he hasn’t seen any evidence in the case yet. In fact, Diemer says he just got the indictment today.
