A22-year-old British ex-girlfriend of a soccer star lost most of her right ear and cannot move her right arm after being mowed down by a car in St. Louis, Missouri, when she took cover from nearby gunfire, according to her lawyer.
Ellie Bentley — who moved to the city from Nottingham, England while she was dating soccer star Indiana Vassilev — suffered the horrific injuries after being dragged for three blocks under the tires of a car that sped off after she ducked behind it it hide, Ben Tobin told KMOX radio.
Tobin said the sound of gunshots terrified the recent college grad. “Then ‘Boom’ that vehicle driver who floors it and ran her over — which then put her underneath the vehicle,” he said.
Her injuries were severe and required two weeks of intensive care and multiple surgeries.
“Multiple fractures on her left leg, she has no mobility on her left leg,” Tobin said. “The people at [the hospital] indicated that this is the worst fracture pelvis they have ever seen.”
She’s just the latest victim of violence in one of America’s deadliest cities.
St. Louis, with a population of 293,000, recorded 200 murders in 2022. That’s a rate of 68 per 100,000 residents that year, second highest of major US cities.
Only New Orleans recorded a higher murder rate in 2022.
That figure is also 13 times higher than the homicide rate for New York City and two and a half times higher than Chicago’s rate.
Homicides dropped significantly in 2023, though most major cities reported declines in violent crime.
So far in 2024, St. Louis has recorded 36 homicides, police statistics show. Nearly all of the killings involve guns.
Additionally, a 2023 study found the Midwest city ranks 11th in the nation for pedestrian deaths, with nearly seven people out of 100,000 residents dying in 2021, according to Miller and Hine Law.
Pedestrian fatalities, like violent crime, surged dramatically in the wake of the pandemic.
Police originally said that the nearby shooting and Bentley being mowed down were related. However, on Tuesday, they said an investigation found that the two incidents were not connected.
Dionte Taylor, 25, was later arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing physical injury.
Bentley’s lawyer said that staff at a nearby bar saved her life by giving her aid after she suffered horrifying injuries.
“She was laying on the road, screaming for help,” Tobin said. “The bartenders and staff at the Platypus and performed some life-saving measures on her.”
Bentley had moved to the U.S. to follow her American boyfriend, Vassilev, who transferred to St. Louis FC following a stint with Aston Villa. The pair later split.
Tobin said she has a long road to recovery.
She had launched a GoFundMe, which has raised more than $21,000 to help pay her medical bills. She hopes to raise $75,000.