Suspect in teen girl's fatal hit-and-run in 2020 to stand trial at family's insistence
The motorist suspected of killing 14-year-old Tamar Boes from Marken in a hit-and-run in 2020 will stand trial after all. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) decided to prosecute the man after reopening the investigation at Tamar’s family’s insistence.
Tamar was found dead on the roadside of the Zeedijk between Monnickendam and Marken early on July 25, 2020. She had run away from home the previous evening after an argument with her parents.
The motorist who hit her was eventually tracked down after weeks of investigation, with police eliminating several damaged cars and Tamar’s mother appealing on television to the perpetrator to turn themself in.
In 2021, the OM decided to fine the now 33-year-old driver €1,500, saying that the man did not pay enough attention to the road and was therefore unable to react in time. According ot the OM, there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the man for manslaughter or death through negligence.
Investigation revealed that the motorist had driven over the girl, but Tamar was already lying on the road. It was unclear whether she fell or lay there intentionally. The motorist said that he did not stop because he thought he had hit a pothole, not a person.
Tamar’s family did not accept that outcome and filed an Article 12 procedure, legal proceedings that allow individuals to fight against the OM’s decision not to prosecute.
Additional forensic investigations revealed indications that Tamar’s body was found in a different location than where she died. There are indications that she had been dragged.
The OM then reopened the case and has now found enough evidence to prosecute. The OM will go into the results of its investigation during the trial.
“For Tamar’s parents and brothers, this is a long-awaited and emotionally charged moment,” Sébas Diekstra, the lawyer representing the family, told NOS. “After years of uncertainty and waiting, the point has finally been reached where the case will actually be prosecuted on its merits.”
A date for the first hearing has not yet been set.
