If you want evidence of why people don’t trust justice in big cities — and, in particular, the big city of Charlotte, North Carolina — you need look no further than the case of Khaliyal Burney.
Burney, police said, hit an 8-year-old girl with his car after revving his engine and speeding up while driving his vehicle in north Charlotte on March 28, according to a report from WSOC-TV.
She died after being transported to a local hospital.
And yet, until a charge of misdemeanor death by vehicle was added, Burney’s bail was set at just $1,000 — even though he had a revoked license and numerous other charges.
According to the Charlotte Observer, the young girl killed was named Nyomi Summers.
“When officers arrived on scene, they located a damaged bicycle and a seriously injured juvenile bicyclist in the roadway,” the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department said in a media release on March 29.
“They also located a 2006 Chrysler 300 sedan and its uninjured driver, Khaliyal Elijah Burney, 23, and a passenger. MEDIC responded to the scene and transported Summers to a local hospital where she was pronounced deceased.”
“The front left of the Chrysler struck the front of the bicycle, ejecting Summers into the roadway,” the release added.
While Burney was not driving drunk or under the influence of drugs, police said, he was charged with driving while his license was revoked, no liability insurance, failure to register, and a fictitious registration.
And yet, until he was charged with the death of Summers, his bail was only $1,000, reports indicated:
Khaliyal Elijah Burney bonded out of the Meck County Detention Center a second time at just before 0100 Tuesday Morning.
His bond was raised from $1,000 unsecured to $20,000 secured after the additional charge of Misdemeanor Death by Vehicle was added.
His next court date is… pic.twitter.com/pFCbiESNZq
— Cedar Posts (@CedarPosts) April 2, 2026
Yes, an 8-year-old black girl’s life was worth only $1,000, at one point. Now, just $20,000. But then, what should we expect from Charlotte?
Just a few days after this outrage, mind you, it was revealed that the man who was caught on video allegedly stabbing and killing a Ukrainian refugee woman on a Charlotte train was found incompetent to stand trial.
According to the New York Post, state prosecutors didn’t object to a 180-day delay in the competency hearing of Decarlos Brown Jr., who stands accused of murdering 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska.
While the competency filing was made Dec. 29, the results were sealed until a court motion.
“If a judge agrees Brown is incompetent to stand trial, state law mandates the charges be dismissed. However, if the judge issues the ruling without prejudice, state murder charges could be refiled if he ever regains his capacity to be tried,” the New York Post reported.
Thankfully, Brown still faces federal charges and remains in U.S. government custody. The parents of Nyomi Summers don’t have that safety net of justice to fall back on.
They must, sadly, rely on the same system that initially gave their daughter’s killer just $1,000 bail and will put off the trial of Decarlos Brown Jr., a man released numerous times despite his obvious unfitness for decent society. And people wonder why wokeness lost its appeal to Americans.
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