THE heartbroken parents of a girl killed in a horror hit and run say they’ve “died a little” every day since the tragedy.
Katniss Seleznev, seven, was left for dead after being struck by a teen speeding down the street on a stolen Suzuki motorbike.
Katniss had been out playing with her twin brother and older sister for less than a minute when the 14-year-old, now 15, barrelled towards her.
The teen, whose identity is kept anonymous by law, was travelling at speeds of up to 52mph on the 30mph-limit Turnstone Road, Walsall.
Katniss flew about 20 metres after impact and was left “to die like an animal on the street”, according to a statement her father read out in court.
The boy failed to stop, opting instead to burn the bike and attempt to hide it in bushes.
He was caught on CCTV on a nearby road telling a group of other teens “she’s a vegetable”.
On Wednesday, the boy was sentenced to five years and four months detention for the hit-and-run in July 2023 – but will only have to serve half before being released on licence, meaning he’ll be freed subject to conditions.
Katniss’ parents have now detailed their continuing agony.
Dad Bojil, 49, told Birmingham Live: “In a blink of an eye she was brutally killed. We cannot imagine the pain and fear she suffered.
“What were her last thoughts?”
The lorry driver went on to slam “not fair” sentencing guidelines for causing death by dangerous driving.
“What happened was reckless and dangerous. But this is the law set by Parliament.
“The judge gave him the maximum he could (after the guilty plea).
“Katniss has gone and it’s not light any more – it’s only darkness, emptiness, sadness and sorrow.
“The pain is indescribable and devastating. There is no way to look at the world as it was before.
“Everyday we die little-by-little, there is no hope and no comfort – there is no pill for that.
“We’d do anything to bring her back and to wake up from this nightmare.
“Our dreams are ruined, everything is ruined. The most precious child’s life has been taken from us.”
Every day we die little by little
Bojil
Mum Lina paid tribute to her daughter by lighting a candle on each of the 40 days following the disaster.
Bojil said: “This is our belief as part of our Christian orthodox religion.
“We believe her spirit is around us for 40 days. After that we believe she was in heaven.”
Lina lamented that bikes are still heard roaring down the same road, making the parents relive their trauma of the horror day.
She said: “Can you imagine lighting a candle and there’s a lot of bikes again? Just days ago a group of them went past.
“I cannot see motorcyclists as it brings me back to that day.
“I am trying to live, but we don’t know what to do. Everything is dead to me.
She was part of me, a piece of me
Lina
“She was part of me, a piece of me. Everyday she was hugging me, she’d go to the school door and blow kisses at me.
“She’d say to me: ‘I love you mummy, you’re the best mummy.’ She was very sensitive.”
Lina said she has hardly left the house since the events of July 27 last year.
The parents moved to London from Bulgaria in 2008, before settling in Walsall in 2016.
They had already been through the share of tough luck, with Lina copping several ecotopic pregnancies – when a fertilised egg gets stuck outside the womb, typically in the Fallopian tube.
The couple were consequently forced down the IVF route, with their first daughter born in 2013 and Katniss and her twin brother in 2016 following three rounds of the fertility treatment.
Recalling the dreadful day of Katniss’ death, Lina said: “Katniss asked me: ‘Mummy can you curl my hair?’ For the first time of my life I was curling her hair, this was just before she was killed.
“She said she wanted to go to play. She was out there and in less than a minute was hit.
“I knew then (she had died). It was shock. In the first few days we didn’t know what happened.”
An off-duty nurse rushed out to attempt CPR before Katniss was rushed to hospital.
She couldn’t be saved.
