Mum charged over girl's death
A teenage girl who died after being thrown from the boot of her mother's Jeep Cherokee when it rolled in Merriwa on Saturday night was one of seven people in the four-wheel-drive, police claim.
As Lois Kirby's distraught mother Janet Kirby faced court yesterday charged over the 15-year-old's death, friends leaving flowers at the site where she died recounted the horrific details of the incident.
Ms Kirby had been driving her daughter and several friends to a mate's nearby house about 10pm when she allegedly lost control as she tried to overtake a moped rider on Marmion Avenue.
The four-wheel-drive flipped and rolled at least once before coming to rest on its roof on the road verge.
Lois and another friend had been sitting in the boot and neither was wearing a seatbelt, police allege.
Police believe she was thrown out the back windscreen. The 16-year-old boy sitting next to her told friends he escaped serious injury because he was holding on to the back seat to brace himself.
A 20-year-old front seat passenger fractured her arm it after it scraped along the road through the open window.
Her mother had to tell the devastated 20-year-old, who rented a room at the Kirbys' house, that Lois did not survive the crash.
Two teenage boys and another girl in the back seat received minor injuries, police say.
Friend Chase Dunn received the horrifying news just minutes after the crash from one of the boys who had been in the vehicle.
"He called me and said, 'The car has flipped over and Lois' heart stopped' . . . I just thought it was lies," he said.
Mr Dunn said the group had been on their way to visit him and another friend when they crashed. The pair rushed to the scene after the call.
"One of the other guys came up to me and gave me a hug and said, 'This is bad, man'," he said.
Dozens of friends of the 15-year-old paid tribute to her as they laid flowers at the crash scene yesterday, describing her as a bubbly, happy girl who got along with everyone.
Major crash officers charged Ms Kirby, 47, with dangerous driving occasioning death, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and two counts of dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm.
They are also investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the crash. As crying relatives watched on, Ms Kirby appeared briefly in Perth Magistrate's Court.
She was remanded in custody to reappear by video link today.
The injured 20-year-old remains in Royal Perth Hospital in a serious but stable condition and the other teenagers were treated at Joondalup Health Campus before being discharged.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
