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Family of 2-year-old killed by day care van considers lawsuit

ATLANTA — The family of a 2-year-old girl hit and killed by a day care van says it is considering a lawsuit.
 
Police say Brandy Buffington was playing outside her southwest Atlanta apartment last month when she was hit.
 
Members of the girl's family say she was in the care of her uncle when the driver of the day care van hit her.
 
They say reports the driver backed over her aren't accurate and believe the driver drove forward over the child and should face charges in connection with her death.
 
"For two years straight, we were there in her life and she's not here no more," said family member Randy Buffington.
 
"I can't hold my baby and for her to not be telling the truth about what really happened, it's really painful," said Brandy's mother, Shantekia Jackson.
 
Police say the driver of the van for Sylvan International Daycare backed over Brandy when she went behind the van on Feb. 18. The attorney for the family says witnesses saw something different.
 
"She pulled forward, heard a bump, got out of the van to say 'What did I hit?' and the witness said 'You hit a baby,'" attorney Chris Chestnut said.
 
Atlanta police tell Channel 2 Action News they do not expect the driver to be charged in connection with Buffington's death. Chestnut says the family wants justice and is now considering legal action.
 
"We have not filed a lawsuit to date, but it seems like we're going to be forced to file a lawsuit because if the driver's lying on the child already, if there are inconsistent facts already, that's the only way we're going to get the truth," Chestnut said.  
 
The family says it's also about making sure this doesn't happen to any other child, even as they continue to mourn their own daughter, a child they describe as bright and loving.
 
"I love you. I still can hear her voice right now saying, 'I love you. I do,'" Jackson said.