ST. LOUIS – A former Tennessee volleyball player who lost both of her legs in a crash while visiting St. Louis took the stand to testify against the man accused of causing the crash.
Janae Edmondson was in town with her parents in February 2023 to compete in a volleyball tournament. They were walking in downtown St. Louis when an SUV struck Janae and pinned her against a parked car.
Daniel Riley, the man behind the wheel of the SUV, was allegedly speeding in the moments before the crash. Prosecutors claim that as Riley sped past a yield sign at the intersection at St. Charles and North 11th streets, a Chevy Malibu hit Riley’s SUV, sending the SUV airborne and into Janae.
An accident reconstruction expert testified on Wednesday that the driver of the Malibu had no time to react.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office has charged Riley with second-degree assault, armed criminal action, operating a vehicle without a valid license, and two counts of fourth-degree assault. Riley was out on bond at the time of the crash in a pending robbery case, even though he had violated the conditions of his release many times.
Janae entered the courtroom on Thursday without her prosthetics, opting to use a wheelchair to show the court the life-altering results of the crash.
She described being hit and the immediate aftermath.
“I felt something hit me. It was warm. I was screaming because I couldn’t feel my body,” she said.
Janae said her mother, Francine Edmondson, attempted to keep her calm and alert while her father, James, applied a tourniquet to one of her legs.
“My mom was holding my face and was saying, ‘Don’t close your eyes; stay awake.’ Don’t close my eyes at all. (My dad) was tying something really tight around my leg, I was thinking to myself, what’s wrong? Why is this so tight around my leg?” she said. “I eventually stopped screaming. I was just sitting there on the ground, face down, on the concrete. I was thinking to myself, what’s going on?”
Janae told the court she became very depressed in the aftermath of the crash. She remembers going to games and activities with friends before the crash changed her life. She planned on going to college on a volleyball scholarship.
She shared that she is still in pain.
“I just got to the point where I was just tired of it. I just felt helpless,” she said.
Janae described having just committed to the University of Tennessee Southern right before the crash happened. She ended up attending Middle Tennessee State University to be closer to home after her injuries. Instead of being the athlete she planned to be, she’s a manager of the volleyball team.
Jurors saw images of Janae playing volleyball on the court before seeing pictures of her practicing her balance in physical therapy. Francine Edmondson could be seen weeping during her daughter’s testimony. The final photo was of Janae’s high school graduation.
The prosecution concluded its questioning after a half-hour of testimony. The defense declined to question Janae on cross-examination. The prosecution rested its case.
The defense called four witnesses and rested its case in less than an hour.
