Horrific video of the downtown collision that took the life of a Chicago mother and daughter appears to have been leaked to the public via someone with access to a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department computer.
The video, which is only about three seconds long, shows Laticha “Lety” Bracero, 42, and Alyssa Cordova, 21, on the crosswalk at North 18th and Olive streets as a speeding vehicle careens through a red light and rams into the mother and daughter. Bracero died at the scene. Cordova passed away after being taken to a hospital. Police have identified Monte Henderson, 22, as the driver of the car that hit them; he now faces four felony charges and was put on house arrest earlier today as he awaits trial.
The video of the crash appears to have been taken by a police camera positioned atop a traffic pole at the intersection. The video that went public was a cell phone recording of that original footage, taken as it played on a desktop computer screen. KSDK has identified the desktop computer as likely belonging to the police department.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Monte Chambers tells the RFT there is an ongoing investigation into the leak of the video. Chambers added: "As is the case in all internal investigations, we will not be commenting further at this time."
"I'm curious about the provenance of the video as well," said Scott Rosenblum, the attorney for Henderson. "It's not appropriate for it to be leaked. It's nothing I'm too happy with at all."
Rosenblum expressed frustration that the video was made public even before the defense had it. "My only theory I can tell you [about where the video came from], is that it didn't come from the defense," Rosenblum said.
The video seemed to appear everywhere online earlier this week. The earliest instance of the video being posted online the RFT could find was when Twitter user @wolfhatfacts posted it Sunday night. By Monday morning it had been featured on outlets ranging from the Daily Mail and TMZ, as well as numerous other content farms.
According to Rosenblum, this sort of leak complicates Henderson's case going forward as it could taint a potential jury pool. With so many people in the city having already seen it, Rosenblum says it can affect a potential juror's ability to be fair and impartial "before they even walk in court."
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