Emery Sevana Chalekian was our 12 ½ year old daughter. She was a child full of light, kindness, and promise. She loved ballet, art, music, her friends, and making people laugh. She was thoughtful beyond her years and had a rare ability to make others feel seen and loved. She especially cherished her role as a Big Buddy at her school, where she spent time mentoring younger students in kindergarten through third grade. She formed sweet, meaningful relationships with these children—playing together during Recess Buddies, making friendship bracelets, and exchanging notes. She even helped a third grader, who was being bullied at school, feel safe and heard. This little one’s father found us at Emery’s celebration of life and told us Emery was the only reason his daughter made it through the third grade. Emery never mentioned this to us, she just did it.

Emery was killed at approximately 6:51pm on Friday April 25, 2025 by Edward “Eddie” Sengendo. He ran a red light and crashed into another car going through the intersection on the green. After the crash, Edward’s car then struck and killed Emery and barely missed her friend by inches who was spared but permanently, emotionally scarred.

We believe that the driver made a deliberate decision to ignore the traffic light, diverting their attention away from the road. This choice tragically resulted in our daughter’s death and has profoundly impacted our family and her friends.

Our grief was deepened when we learned that, in the moments following the crash, Edward made three calls—one to his attorney friend, who arrived at the scene promptly. Shockingly, there is no record of him calling 911 or any emergency responders. Moreover, not a single witness has come forward to say that Edward made any attempt to assist Emery after he struck her, nor did he reach out to her friend, who was left heartbroken in the aftermath. Thankfully, other compassionate first responders quickly came to her aid, but Edward chose to call a lawyer instead.