Driver who hit and killed Alana Tamplin will not face criminal charges

Alana Tamplin, 12, was hit by a vehicle and died Monday. (Credit: WINK News.)

Alana Tamplin, 12, was hit by a vehicle and died in January. (Credit: WINK News.)

The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed Friday the driver who hit and killed Alana Tamplin in a North Fort Myers crash will not face criminal charges.

Instead, FHP says they cited the driver, Mary Miller, for careless driving.

“I don’t care how you drove,” said Sarah Tamplin, Alana’s mother. “I care the fact that my daughter is not coming home, and I don’t think you should be able to either.”

Alana was hit on Durrance Road in January. She was walking back from dropping off her little sister at the bus stop.

“My husband called it. He said that they were going to let her off,” Sarah Tamplin, Alana’s mother. “And I’ve been a 100% supporter the entire time. No. They’re going to do something; they’re the law they have to. We just have to hold out hope. And he was right. They did nothing for us.”

Troopers say the driver left the scene and didn’t help Alana, but did come back shortly after.

“They basically said they never charged it criminally,” Sarah said. “The only thing they were looking at was hit-and-run. Well, because she came back, it’s not considered a hit-and-run. Because in the intent of the law, a hit-and-run means you don’t come back. But my whole premise of everything is I don’t care that you hit and ran, I care that you didn’t save my child.”

Photos show the damage to the passenger side of the vehicle, including a smashed windshield.

We’re working to get answers from FHP and the state attorney’s office.

“And now I don’t get to teach her how to drive, or her first heartbreak, or high school, or any of the things she wanted,” Sarah said. “She was so smart, and she wanted to be a school ambassador, and she wanted to show everybody what she could do. And she never got the opportunity. And it just it sucks because she had so much spirit and it was just robbed of her just in an instant.”