Teen’s stepfather apologizes for infant’s death
Kaylie Silby was convicted last week of improper driving in connection with the death of 2-year-old Omarion Rose (pictured) on Jan. 17.
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By Chris Dumond
Published: July 10, 2008
A week after a judge fined a teenager $500 in connection with the death of a Madison Heights toddler, her stepfather has issued a public statement of apology to the boy’s family on her behalf.
The statement — from Chris Murphy of Madison Heights, stepfather to Kaylie Silby — also strongly defends the teen’s actions in the hours following the January fatality.
“I understand that this statement is long overdue,” Murphy wrote, “but up to this point, we have been under the instruction of our attorney and the state police not to give any statements.”
Silby, 19, was found guilty July 1 of improper driving. According to the evidence presented at her trial, she hit 2-year-old Omarion Rose on Seminole Drive on Jan. 14 as she was on her way to pick up her boyfriend that morning.
The boy, Amherst County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Maddox said in an earlier interview, had wandered away from his parents’ home in a moment of confusion.
The statement apologizes to the Rose family, and to Omarion’s mother in particular.
“No one could ever imagine the pain that they are going through,” it says. “Nothing could ever be done to fill the void… .”
During the hearing, Silby testified she was driving on Seminole Drive, under the speed limit, when her cell phone rang. She said the road ahead was clear when she looked down to find the phone. As she looked down, she felt what she thought was a pothole, she testified.
When she checked her mirrors, she saw nothing and went on.
In the family’s statement, Murphy notes Silby “has done everything she is supposed to do,” and that her family called police that day after seeing a news report about the incident.
“She stepped forward when many people would not have,” Murphy wrote.
The statement also noted that a re-creation of the accident showed that Silby could not have seen the boy in her mirrors, which was confirmed by police testimony at her trial.
In the wake of public outcry over the sentence, Maddox said Thursday that she doesn’t believe Silby set out to hit a child that morning. She also verified that the teen notified police the same day as the incident.
Silby was charged with reckless driving on March 12, after a lengthy investigation that included extensive forensic testing.
For those who wonder why Silby was not charged with a more serious crime than reckless driving, Maddox pointed out that the judge in the case, after hearing three hours of evidence, acquitted Silby of even reckless driving.
“It’s my job as commonwealth’s attorney to look at all the evidence and all the facts and to charge what the law allows,” she said. “A reckless driving (charge) was the highest charge that we could make based on the evidence in the case.
“The judge after listening to a lot of testimony thought it didn’t rise to the level of reckless (driving) and convicted her of improper (driving).
“Charging any greater charge clearly would not have been appropriate.”
Rose’s family could not be reached for comment.
Public apology letter written by Kaylie Silby’s stepfather
I would like to begin by saying that on behalf of not only Kaylie but also the rest of our family, our sincere condolences and prayers go out to the Rose family and Mrs. Hughes in particular. We are sorry for the loss of Omarion. No one could ever imagine the pain that they are going through. Nothing could ever be done to fill the void; we fully understand that and sympathize with the family. I understand that this statement is long overdue, but up to this point, we have been under the instruction of our attorney and the State Police not to give any statements.
With that being said, there have been many people stating that Kaylie is a cold-blooded killer. This could not be further from the truth. No one would knowingly hit a child and just leave him or her to die, no one. The simple fact of the matter is anyone heading down Seminole Drive that morning would have been subject to hitting Omarion. Everyone who drives at one point or another has taken their eyes off the road and many drivers whether they admit it or not have felt a bump in the road and not stopped. Beyond that, the State Police did a re-creation of the accident and confirmed that Kaylie could not have seen Omarion in her mirrors. If you do not see anything after you feel a bump in the road would you stop? Again, most people wouldn’t.
From the time Kaylie thought she might have been the one to hit Omarion she has done everything she is supposed to do. Contrary to what some media outlets have reported, it was not days before she came forward, and she was never on the run, it was the same day, right around lunchtime. We relinquished the vehicle to the State Police at the same time; it was never washed or doctored in any way. She did not move the car at any time once she returned to the house that morning. She stepped forward when many people would not have.
Also, contrary to what some may say, Kaylie is extremely remorseful. She can hardly look at her own infant son without breaking down. She is withdrawn, depressed and very solemn. Trust me — she is sorry this accident ever occurred. This is something that she will have to deal with everyday for the rest of her life.
Let me finish by saying: this is a terrible accident that no one should ever have to endure. Many lives have been ruined by these events. Please don’t judge someone for an accident that anyone of us could have very well been involved in. And again, to the Rose family and Mrs. Hughes, we do apologize for the loss of Omarion.
On behalf of Kaylie and our family, thank you for your time.
— Chris Murphy
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( Momof4 ) on July 11, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I believe Kaylie Silby did all the right things after the incident. I believe she is remorseful. She killed a child because of her reckless actions while driving. She may never be able to look at her own children again without remembering what she took away from another mother. I believe this just as I believe it would do no good to charge the Rose family with child endangerment or neglect after letting him wander around a street without any supervision, never knowing he was missing (as I remember the story, it was another passing driver who found him). They have unfortunately paid the ultimate price with the loss of their beautiful child.
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Posted by ( electro_45 ) on July 11, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I Beleive the parents should take some responsiblity here Mr Murphy dont owe a dang thing…..
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Posted by ( crispy daisy ) on July 11, 2008 at 5:20 pm
poet, who are you to decide if the apology is good enough? It’s not directed at you, doesn’t involve you, and you have no say in it.
As for everyone accusing the Rose family of being negligent, as I recall, they thought that Omarion was outside with his father. He apparently had followed his father outside, but his father didn’t know that Omarion had come out after him. It’s the sort of mix-up that happens every day but, this time, it had tragic results.
There’s quite a lot of judgment here from people who only know what they’ve read in a few newspaper articles.
freedom, if you want to read a report of the investigation, I believe that once the case is closed (which I assume it now is), you can view the files. Knock yourself out. And if there were a lawsuit, how is that going to affect your insurance rates? Are you talking about car insurance? As I recall, you don’t have a car.
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Posted by ( The Guru ) on July 11, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I have to ask 1 question. How many of you have hit a bump in the road and didn’t see anything in your mirrors and stopped to see what you may or may not have hit? Cell phone or not, a child is not much bigger than a large dog in height and is hard to see when they come out at the last second. Both parties were at fault and neither party is at fault. Accidents happen, circumstances were unforeseen and for that, we have this tragedy.
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Posted by ( cavfan ) on July 11, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Ok why does it always have to be about race?? Come on people this was an accident. If the colors had been reversed the parents would be in court for neglect to that child. However this shouldn’t be a race thing. The parents of the child should be held responsible for their child’s death. Where were the parents why the child was outside of the home and in the street? You don’t hear anyone focusing on that issue only the child that accidentally hit the toddler. Accidents happen everyday but it is the parents responsibilty to keep up with their child. Let’s stop blaming it on race because it doesnt matter if they were black or white, a little child lost his life because of irresponsible parents. Grow up people and realize there is more to this country than race of its people.
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Posted by ( InnocentBystander ) on July 11, 2008 at 1:36 pm
one more thing-poet (or BlindedByHate as I shall now call you)—who are YOU to say the apology is not enough? Are you a member of the Rose family? If you are, then that might answer a lot of questions. If not, then I say again, SHHHHHHHH!
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Posted by ( InnocentBystander ) on July 11, 2008 at 1:33 pm
poet, imagine my surprise seeing you here. (sarcasm by the way in case you misunderstood) May I suggest a name cange for you? Nothing you write is poetic. I suggest something like “RacistBigot” or “BlindedByHate” or “AgreeWithMeOrElse”
More people to call racist here than on the other page huh?
Glad to see, though, that you learned from the previous page and have attempted to actually USE THE POSTERS WORDS as evidence of your opinions and not just turning their words around. Too bad you are dead red wrong here too. Doesn’t that get old?
As her legal guardian he has MORE THAN THE RIGHT to offer the apology on her behalf. She’s a minor, and probably did not want to subject herself to YOUR abusive rhetoric. Because you obviously have no respect for anyone aside from yourself. So, her loving step-father stepped forward to take the heat for her. I say, “Bravo Mr. Murphy.“
Poet, I for one amd sick of your slanderous filth. You are no beter than those who you “call out.“ Go ahead and rant and rave about how racist I am. Go ahead and make wild and crazy accusations abot people you do not know. Keep slinging the mud and the cow turds. Your aim is way off the mark and YOU are the only one who ends up smelling like crap. I wouldn’t be surprised to see you try to get named as a coplaintiff in the civil suit just so you can “stick it to the man.“
I’ll say it again, if the Rose family has class, they’ll accept the apology and drop the suit. What will you do then? Post about how stupid THEY are?
I don’t know why I keep asking you so many questions. We both know you started writing your reply when you saw my name and didn’t even read what I wrote.
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Posted by ( Bob P. ) on July 11, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Poet, unless I’m mistaken you aren’t in a position to accept or decline his/her apology.
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Posted by ( damalama ) on July 11, 2008 at 1:25 pm
barb you are ridiculous, how about this..you think if the rose family was white they would have been investigated more about the complete negligect of their child, wandering around for HOURS, and they not knowing where the kid was until the police WOKE them up in the early AFTERNOON, the father not making sure the child went back inside? some people just should have kids when they are this irresponsible. also i can almost promise you that the news media would have been all over the rose family about child negligect if the rose family would have been white, but hey they doesn’t rise emotions, and since they were black the media would have been labeled as racist by morons like yourself, even if they equally went after silby, instead they play to the ignorant like yourself to sell papers and get you to watch their news program. it’s ignorance like yours that keeps hate between races living today. if the impact of the child hitting the car could have been found out to have been going probably atleast 7 mph over the limit, or there would have been skid marks leading up to the scene then you can bet there would have been serious charges even the manslaughter people wanted, because with the technology today and investigative abilities of the police they can easily determined how fast silby was going by how far the child went after impact, and the damage in relation to the car. do i know how to do it? no! but if you take the time to find out about stuff, what the police are capable of when investigating stuff like this, or attended the trial, instead of relying on biased reporting that as you can see didn’t hardly report any of the police findings, which there was hours of it and none of it pointed to speed, or possibly knowing something was hit! there wasn’t any proof of any of that, contray to what the media wants ignorant people like you to believe, which is the judge ruled in favor of silby because she is white, dispite officer expert testimony and evidence that supported the fact that silby was speeding, or knew what she hit. instead none of that happend, and none of the officers said that silby knew what she hit, or that she was speeding.
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Posted by ( poet ) on July 11, 2008 at 10:22 am
I’m sorry Chris Murphy, but that’s just not good enough. If I’m not mistaking you didn’t hit that child. What kind of contrition is being demonstrated by letting you apologise for what she did?
The very least she could do is apologise for her own actions.
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