dpOAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — The family of the woman who was hit and seriously hurt by 7- and 4-year-old brothers who took their parents’ car in Oakland Thursday says she is still in critical condition.
ABC7 Eyewitness News spoke with family members of both the kids driving the vehicle and of Kiara Bowling, the pedestrian who was struck.
On the sidewalk where Kiara Bowling was seriously injured, her cousin, Princess Davis was asking for prayers on Friday.
“This is a poster for people to come out and pray for her. Come out and show your strength and keep praying for my cousin and for her to pass the surgery,” Davis said.
On Thursday, Bowling was crossing the street while walking a friend’s dog, when a white sedan driven by 7- and 4- year-old brothers came speeding down 35th Avenue in Oakland and hit her from behind.
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A Citizen app video showed the young boys lying on the sidewalk after the crash and Bowling being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
Bowling was crossing the street when the white sedan the boys were in came speeding down 35th Avenue before hitting her, according to witness accounts and surveillance video from the scene.
“It was loud,” witness Lavelle Shah-Marquis said. “I pray that she’s okay, but it was bad, it was bad.”
Her family spoke for the first time on Friday.
“I just found out she has blood on her brain. She has to probably get two surgeries,” Davis said.
On the phone, Bowling’s aunt said her niece is at Highland hospital fighting for her life with a brain bleed, facial fractures and undergoing multiple surgeries.
Bowling is in her early 30s and was recently selected as Miss California Regency International 2026. She is described as a hardworking student on her last semester at Cal State East Bay and was back in Oakland after finishing a summer program at Yale for her JD — her dream is to become a lawyer.
“She went to school, she was out helping the community, she is a model. She does a lot for this community. My cousin didn’t deserve this. I hate that this happened to her,” Davis said.
The 7- and 4-year-old boys are also in the hospital. Their uncle, who did not want to be on camera, said the 7-year-old fractured both legs and the youngest is recovering from a concussion. Both are at UCSF Benioff Children’s hospital.
“The older one was looking for his little brother. Asking about his little brother, you know? ‘Where’s my little brother? Is he okay?’,” Ali, the uncle said.
Their parents confirmed they were sleeping when the boys somehow got their keys and drove away in the car just after 9 a.m. Their dad got home around 6 a.m. after driving for Uber.
Luz Pena: “So, your brother-in-law’s telling you that it’s still unclear how they got a hold of those keys?”
“Yes, yes. So he’s like, ‘I don’t leave the keys around. I don’t know how they did that. But, you know, he’s — he’s very hurt. He’s still like in shock,” Ali said.
Oakland police said 7-year-old and 4-year-old brothers took their parents’ Toyota while they were sleeping and went for a drive. The crash happened several blocks from their home.
The incident has raised questions about who could be held responsible. “Unfortunately, I think these parents need to be held responsible and that was my main concern was these parents need to be held responsible. This is ridiculous,” Shah-Marquis said.
Legal analyst and former prosecutor Steven Clark said the situation is highly unusual. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s just such a one off,” Clark said.
“The law doesn’t have an exact remedy for this,” he added. Clark said that while the act itself could be considered a crime, the age of the child involved makes criminal accountability unlikely. “It is a crime that the seven-year-old committed, but we’re not going to put a seven-year-old in juvenile hall,” Clark said.
Oakland police are questioning the parents and said they are cooperating with the investigation.
“What was the level of supervision of these kids? How did they get access to the vehicle?” Clark said. “I’ve seen that in other cases where you rely on social workers, not prosecutors.”
Clark said he believes a civil case is likely but criminal charges are not. “This isn’t like leaving a gun around for a kid. This is an automobile that we use every day, and this is the kind of thing that you’re used to just leaving your car keys out,” he said.
Experts also said responsibility should not be placed on the children because of their ages and developmental abilities.
“These kids are not capable, at this age, of understanding the consequences of what they did,” said Dr. Shivani Chmura, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. “It’s like they can see that they push the first domino, but they cannot see any of the other ones after that that would fall.”
She said the children should be protected from blame. “I would recommend counseling for them. Otherwise, they could end up with very lifelong symptoms of shame,” Chmura said.
Calling the situation tragic, Chmura said, “My heart goes out to the whole situation. It’s tragic.”
According to the boys’ uncle, the 7-year-old broke both his legs and the 4-year-old sustained a concussion. Both are recovering in the hospital.
Bowling’s family has set up a GoFundeMe website to help with ongoing medical costs.
Bowling family continues to ask for prayers as doctors plan several surgeries in the coming days.
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