Gifted teen’s surprise car from Boys & Girls Club stolen in South City; GoFundMe set up for ‘Youth of the Year’ student
By Melanie Johnson
Click here for updates on this story
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — A gift from the community to a promising high school student is stolen on the streets of South City.
“I was on time leaving out and I walked out there and it was gone,” says victim, Zhariah Davis.
Zhariah is a senior at Metro High School and was awarded a surprise graduation gift, a 2018 Kia Optima, after being named “Youth of the Year” by the Boys and Girls Club.
“I go there once a week to help the kids with homework or just have conversations, play a game, mentor, just about everything,” Davis says.
Her new car was stolen in the early morning hours on Wednesday in front of her home.
“I don’t know who it was or why they did it but I’m better than yesterday,” says Davis.
“They’re looking for joy rides but they don’t understand the inconvenience that you put people through when they do that,” says her mother, Shantasha Love. “She was late for school, she had a test, it was so many different things that occurred that day because she didn’t have her car.”
Her laptop and cheerleading uniform were also in the car and have not been returned.
The family tells News 4, despite locking the car doors and putting a steering wheel lock on the KIA, someone still managed to steal it.
“Reality hit like it’s actually gone.”
In January, 400 Kias and Hyundais were stolen in St. Louis City.
The promising student is now struggling to find reliable transportation to school while also making sure her siblings get to class on time as well.
“She wants to be a biomedical engineer and in order for her to do that she needs transportation,” says Love. “I have a job where I’m pulling 10-12 hours. I just can’t stop work to take her to her meetings. I don’t have the ability to do it. I have other children I have to take care of.”
“The bus from school, Ubers, trying to do as many Zoom meetings as I can. I don’t even know how I’m going to do this,” Davis says.
The family has no word on any suspects or where the car could be.
A GoFundMe has been set up to replace the present stripped away from the 12th grader before she could even enjoy it.
“We’re not angry. We just want it back.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
