ORLANDO, Fla. — Aubrey Clark, the 10-year-old girl hit by a car while riding her bicycle in Ocoee, has died, Channel 9 learned Friday.
Aubrey was struck by a car as she and a friend were riding their bicycles home from Citrus Elementary School two weeks ago.
Despite the fact that Aubrey was wearing a helmet, she suffered brain damage in the accident and had been in a medically induced coma.
“Danny and his family made a very unselfish decision that it was time to let her go,” said family friend Dan Oliver.
Aubrey’s father, Osceola County firefighter Danny Clark, had to make the decision to take his little girl off life support after learning her brain damage was so severe that she’d likely never leave the hospital.
"There was an MRI test that confirmed our deepest fears. Aubrey was not going to be able to get any better than she was," Oliver said. "She never would've had a normal life. The state that she was in, of unconsciousness and being on a ventilator, was the only thing that was keeping her with us."
Police said Aubrey and her friend were riding their bikes on a sidewalk when a car drove onto the sidewalk and struck them.
That car then drove away, stopping nearly half a mile from the scene. Aubrey's friend escaped serious injury.
The man who allegedly hit her, Lastevie Howard, 40, was arrested last week on charges of leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving.
Police said he was going more than 20 miles an hour in a Walgreens parking lot when he jumped a sidewalk and hit Aubrey and her friend.
Video taken from a red-light camera at the nearest intersection shows Howard then drove nearly a half-mile away before coming back.
Aubrey had been in critical condition and on a ventilator ever since.
“We would get good news and we would get bad news. We never gave up hope,” Oliver said. “We know that she's happy and feeling so much better right now. She's no longer in pain, she's no longer suffering and we hold on to that.”
Ocoee police said tests did not show alcohol in Howard's system. He was released from jail on a $26,000 bond. Investigators told Ray that charges against Howard could be upgraded.
The family said Aubrey's organs were donated and one of her kidneys was flown to Tampa where it saved a life.
"It's what she would have wanted. She was such a beautiful, caring, loving child. It's exactly what Aubrey would've wanted," said Oliver.
Ocoee police said they are working with the State Attorney’s Office to upgrade Howard’s charges to include homicide.
“Both of those offenses carry a maximum of 30 years, with leaving the scene of a death carrying a minimum of four years,” said WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer.