‘Who Killed My Kid?': Parents Speak Out After 12-Year-Old Girl Hit by Rolling Car Outside Her School

Mar. 15, 2025

A memorial for Arsema Mekonnen.Photo:GoFundMe

GoFundMe

Arsema’s parents, dad Berihun Mekonnen and mom Tigist Yitna, told KIRO that they moved their family from Ethiopia to the United States for a brighter future.

“I brought my daughter here from Ethiopia to have a better life, to go to a better school, get better education,” Yitna tearfully said via a translator. “And then I send my child to school and I don’t get my child back.”

Mekonnen and Yitna said they hadn’t seen their daughter since dropping her off at school the day of her death, according to KIRO.

They also claimed no one from Seattle Public Schools reached out to them until the evening of Tuesday, March 11 — five days after the accident.

“Who killed my kid?” asked Mekonnen. “Why you don’t tell me? Why?”

Bev Redmond, the district’s chief of staff, said school officials aim to meet with Arsema’s family “as early as possible this week" and are “committed to supporting” them.

Seattle Public Schools did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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Arsema will be laid to rest on Sunday, March 16, according to KIRO.

More than $42,000 has been raised through aGoFundMe campaignstarted to support the needs of Arsema’s family, including funeral expenses, following the girl’s sudden death.

source: people.com