Clayton County

Teen on dirt bike hits 8-year-old girl, breaking her neck, then drives away, police say

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County second grader will continue her recovery journey at home after being in the hospital for nearly a month.

Noel Dickens, 8, was run over by a teenager riding a dirt bike in her neighborhood last month.

The little girl has a wired jaw, a broken neck and had a metal plate put in her head, her mother told Channel 2′s Tom Jones.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Candy Miller says her daughter was walking home with friends on Bimini Drive when she was hit. The girl’s friends told her that he moved Noel out of the road before leaving her.

Police say they have a possible suspect and are investigating.

“He never came back. He left her there, and thank God her two friends were smart enough to like get the neighbor whose house this was in front of,” Miller said.

Miller says the teen then hurt her daughter even more by picking her up.

“They’re assuming when he picked her up is when her neck actually broke,” Miller explained.

TRENDING STORIES:

Surveillance video captured the teen on the dirt bike just moments after the crash.

Miller told Jones that she believes police haven’t done enough to arrest the teen, who she says is a known nuisance around the neighborhood.

She says the teenager should have stayed on the scene and helped Noel.

“Not leave her there, I mean, to die,” she said.

Police say there are steps they have to take before they can make an arrest.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

The family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to offset some of Noel’s medical bills.

IN OTHER NEWS: