NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Thursday, a teen accepted a plea deal in adult court after a girl's death two years ago.
The girl's mother called her death "the worst time of her life." Aaliyah Ingram was found dead after a single-car incident. However, police later revealed that two teens were connected to Ingram's death.
Between the names, cars, and traffic, Nashville's streets tend to blur together. However, there is one specific street named after a specific girl — recognizable by a sign that sits just feet away from where Ingram's body was found.
"We should not be here right now," Ingram's mother, Natalie Chastain, said while trying to hold back tears.
The sign serves as a reminder of how one 13-year-old girl's memory has lasted far beyond her time on Earth.
"Since her last really awake moments were over here, I just didn't want her to go forgotten. Just remember that she was here," Chastain said. "She was 13 years old and made one mistake and it cost her her whole life. Everybody gets a second chance in this whole thing but my daughter."
Chastain said her daughter left home late at night on November 21, 2022, but by morning, she realized Ingram had never returned home. Chastain knew something was wrong. Chastain claimed that shortly after she realized her daughter was missing, Ingram’s phone pinged in the Paragon Mills area.
Later, the Metro Nashville Police Department released more details, including a photo of a man wanted for questioning at the time. Officers believed the young man knew about the “single-vehicle crash” that critically injured Ingram; however, the circumstances of how she was hit by the vehicle were still under investigation.
"I could sit here and say she will never get to stand underneath that tree," Chastain said, wiping away tears. "As weird as that is, it hurts because there are no new memories. Everybody misses her so much."
Three months after Aaliyah's body was found, teen Cesar Martinez turned himself in on an arrest order charging him with vehicular homicide by recklessness.
Chastain told News 2 that another teen was in the car at the time of Aaliyah's death. Court records showed that the second teenager was charged with criminal negligent homicide. Chastain added that the second teen in the case appeared before the Juvenile Justice Court to plead guilty to the charge as an adult.
Chastain detailed the process: she gave a victim impact statement, then sat and waited — only to be shocked when she heard the teen would be sentenced to probation.
"Just sitting there knowing that he will get to leave after we get out of here, that's a problem," Chastain said. "He tried to apologize today, and his apology was, 'I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault.' Well, whose fault was it?"
News 2 is still awaiting the official court documents detailing the next steps in the legal process for the teen charged on Thursday.