Kimberly Cabuchola says her family could have forgiven the deputy who struck and killed her 16-year-old niece if the sheriff’s office had simply told the truth from the start.
Cabuchola, the aunt of Persephone Berger, told KMOV that law enforcement initially led the teen’s father, Jarred Berger, to believe his daughter died in a hit-and-run. The 16-year-old was lying in a Park Hills, Missouri, roadway around 3:45 a.m. Saturday when a St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office vehicle struck her. She had been heading home after sneaking out to a party the previous night, and a witness had already found her in the road and reported it to police.
“While approaching [the scene], the Deputy did not see the [girl] in the roadway and subsequently struck [her],” Sheriff Jeff Crites said in a statement.
A preliminary autopsy determined her injuries were “consistent with those sustained from the responding Deputy’s vehicle,” authorities said. The driver is approximately 23 years old and had worked for the department for roughly three months.
Cabuchola said she would not have directed anger at the young deputy had the department been transparent about what happened.
“All they had to do was say ‘Our officer accidentally ran over your child and she died,'” she told KMOV. “That’s all they had to do. But no.”
“To try and cover it up and to lie to our family? Why? Why would they need to do that? We could have forgiven that officer.”
The family’s frustration deepened over what they described as a cold, delayed response. Cabuchola said the sheriff’s office failed to contact her brother for three days after the incident.
“The lies… not calling the right people in,” she blasted. “Not reaching out to my brother for three days. That wasn’t an accident.”
During that period, the only official who reached out was the coroner, who delivered devastating news about the condition of the teen’s body.
“The only [person] that contacted him within that three-day [period] was the coroner, to tell us that she was so badly mangled that we needed to have a closed coffin for her,” Cabuchola said.
The emotional toll has left her torn between restraint and rage.
“I want to go over to that county jail and tell them, you know. I want to scream and I want to cuss at them. But I know I can’t. I know I can’t. Just tell us the truth.”
Crites has avoided directly addressing the hit-and-run framing, noting he was not the responding officer. Authorities are awaiting toxicology results, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol is conducting an independent investigation. Final autopsy results are also pending.
At West County High School, where Berger was a student, classmates wore pink on Monday to honor her memory. Hundreds of mourners gathered for a vigil. Emma Houser, a fellow student, described the atmosphere at school as “so dull” following the death.
“She was just a really lively, understanding person. She never judged a soul. Like, she was just a really sweet person,” Houser said.
Riley Skaggs, one of Berger’s friends, called her “fun, loving [and] very smart,” Houser added that Berger felt “kind of like an older sister and like someone you can lean on and talk to about anything.”
Berger’s sister, Allison Berger, posted a tribute online Saturday, calling the Harry Potter fan “exciting” and “so full of life.”
“I love you so much Persephone and we miss you more than you would ever even imagine,” she wrote.
In an obituary, the family remembered Berger as a “caring and compassionate young woman, always ready with a smile and a kind word for everyone she met.” She had sung in her school choir since fifth grade and was known as a “social butterfly” who loved hiking and nature.