‘I will forgive’: Mother of teen killed in crash speaks after arrest

CHARLOTTE — A young driver has been charged in a crash that killed a teenager in southeast Charlotte.

It happened on Jan. 17 on East W.T. Harris Boulevard near East Independence Boulevard. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said an Infiniti was traveling on E. W.T. Harris Boulevard when it struck a BMW. That caused the BMW to then hit a Ford.

Investigators said the driver of the Ford, 17-year-old Daunte Palmer, died after he lost control and hit a tree.

Palmer, a North Mecklenburg High School senior who loved aviation, was laid to rest on Friday.

“It was wonderful,” his mother, Tametrice Griffin, said. “I just felt so proud, so honored. Just to know how many people he’s touched, and inspired, and how everybody just loved him. That’s what got me through it.”

Griffin said accountability is helping that process.

On Wednesday, CMPD said the driver of the Infiniti made an improper lane change, causing Palmer’s death.

She told Channel 9 what she felt when CMPD told her an arrest was made.

“It just hit me,” Griffin said. “It hit me here like, whoa, and it’s only been two weeks. So, it was fast.”

The driver of the Infiniti, who is under the age of 18, was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and improper lane change, police said.

Griffin said she was conflicted about the news.

“A young kid, 16 years old, a child, and then as a mother, that part hit,” Griffin said. “That part hit me here like, ‘Wow, a kid like my son, they’re young, and they’re going to have to live with this.’”

Griffin, guided by faith, said her strength is helping her get through the tragedy.

She knows what it will take for her to heal her loss.

“I’m still missing Daunte,” she said. “It’s still quiet. I’m still going through my pain, still, but I will. I know it will come. I know I will forgive. I have to forgive to carry on.”

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