Robbery victim found alive, though prosecutors attribute delays in justice to his death

ST. LOUIS – FOX 2 has found a living robbery victim who St. Louis prosecutors claimed was dead. The false claim is linked to the frightening accident that left a teenage girl with her legs.

The victim’s family was already concerned about the false claim of the victim’s death, made worse by the fact that the claim was linked to a devastating accident that changed the life of a young girl.

“I feel so sorry for her and her family that she lost both of her legs and that she is in the condition she is in,” said Jim Dandridge. “I really feel like we, as St. Louisans, let the whole family down.”

He talks about Saturday’s fall that cost 17-year-old Janae Edmondson his legs. She was walking her family on St. Charles Street in downtown St. Louis after a volleyball tournament. Suddenly, a suspected robbery while under house arrest caused a life-changing accident.

“That should never have happened. This guy should have been locked up,” Dandridge said. “He should never have been in that car for that to happen.”

He knows because he says his son was robbed by the same man three years ago. Crash suspect Daniel Riley has been charged with a 2020 robbery. The courts say he has since violated house arrest 51 times without consequences. Prosecutors delayed his trial, which was scheduled for last July. This week, prosecutors said the trial had been delayed because the victim had died. This is Dandridge’s son.

“Apparently he’s alive. He just left to go to work. He’s a young kid. He’s 20 years old,” Dandridge said. “He does all kinds of things. He is perfectly healthy – as healthy as a 20-year-old boy can be.”

He says he clearly remembers hearing the real reason the assistant prosecutor gave when he came out in court. He said she told the judge, “She was on her honeymoon and didn’t have time to review the case.”

District Attorney Kim Gardner did not respond to FOX 2’s interview requests, but FOX 2’s Elliott Davis spoke to the bureau’s chief process assistant about the error.

“There was a death certificate with a similar name that was electronically attached to this record from the case of another defendant who had an incidental case,” Marvin Teer Jr. said.

Dandridge said he didn’t understand.

“When you prosecute someone and put them in jail, you think they know who’s called who,” he said. “Who is the victim and who are the suspects and all sorts of things. I am incredulous; how could you misunderstand that.”

Despite the tremendous stress of this situation and the question of whether the prosecution can adequately handle Dandridge’s son’s case, he says he will be present at every hearing as long as he is notified. Not only does he say he wasn’t told anything about the important court hearing, but he says he was never told suspect Riley ever violated his house arrest. Dandridge says not once in the 51 violations the court reports.

https://fox2now.com/news/fox-files/robbery-victim-found-alive-despite-prosecutor-blaming-justice-delays-on-his-death/ Robbery victim found alive, though prosecutors attribute delays in justice to his death