By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer

STERLING HEIGHTS — A 9-year-old Warren girl was killed after two vehicles collided at the intersection of 18 Mile and Van Dyke Aug. 6.

According to Sterling Heights police, a Chrysler minivan heading west on 18 Mile struck the passenger side of a Grand Prix going north on Van Dyke at around 10:48 a.m.

Sterling Heights Police Lt. Mark Ostin said the Grand Prix ran the red light while the minivan was proceeding legally with a green light.

The girl was a passenger in the Grand Prix, and her mother was behind the wheel at the time, he said.

According to Ostin, several passers-by — including an off-duty officer for a federal agency and a Ford employee — helped pull the girl from the backseat, where she had been buckled up in the center, and performed CPR until emergency responders arrived.

The girl was transported to Troy Beaumont Hospital, then airlifted to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital, where she passed away later that evening, he said.

Ostin said the occupants of the minivan, a Sterling Heights man and his teenage son, suffered soreness and minor airbag burns, and he said he did not believe the mother of the 9-year-old was seriously injured.

Everyone involved in the crash was wearing seatbelts, he added.

Ostin said the girl’s mother was devastated by the accident and had been “very cooperative” with the police investigation.

“It doesn’t appear that speed was an actual problem in the incident here,” he said. “They were both within the posted speed limits. There was no alcohol that was involved.”

Police — still unsure why the woman ran the red light and the circumstances leading up to the incident — are seeking additional witnesses to the crash, especially anyone who observed the accident while driving north on Van Dyke, said Ostin.

Anyone with more information is asked to call the Sterling Heights Police Traffic Bureau at (586) 446-2920.