The mother of Jessica and Kelly Uhl, two girls who were killed when their car collided with a vehicle being driven by an Illinois state trooper, says that the wrongful death lawsuit that she has now filed against Trooper Matt Mitchell, the Illinois State Police and the state of Illinois is not about the money, but justice for her daughters.

Kimberley Dorsey has filed a lawsuit claiming $24 million in damages from the trooper accusing him of negligence in the accident.

The accident took place east of St Louis in November of last year. 18-year-old Jessica and 13-year-old Kelly were in a car returning from a holiday photo shoot. On Interstate 64, Mitchell lost control of his cruiser and slammed into the car carrying the girls. They died at the scene.

In the days that followed, a coroner’s jury held that this was a case of reckless homicide. Mitchell at the time of the accident was driving at a speed of 126 miles per hour. Accident reconstruction confirms that the trooper was driving recklessly. The impact of the accident was so severe that Mitchell’s cruiser simply bored through the girls’ car. The engine of the car was found crushed several hundred feet away from where the car finally stopped. The girl’s car at the time of the accident was going at 65 miles per hour.

From the severity of the accident and the instant fatalities, it’s safe to assume that Mitchell will be held accountable for his reckless driving. You don’t cause an accident that manages to sever a car and crush its engine by driving at a reasonable speed. Plus, this isn’t the first time the Illinois state trooper has been involved in a crash. He was involved in two accidents, and in one of these, the state received a $1.7 million judgment against it.

In the days following the accident, it became crystal clear to the Illinois State Police that Mitchell had been driving recklessly at high speeds, and yet they hid this fact from the girls’ parents. Every time they asked for answers about the accident that killed their children, they were stonewalled, their attorney says. Mitchell has claimed that he was on his way to help at an accident scene, and holes have been found with that story too. The accident was under control by other police, and there was no need for him to be driving at the speed he was.

For now, Mitchell is free on bond but has been relived of his duties.

To lose one child would be heartbreaking enough; to lose two in the exact same instant is more than any parent should have to bear. We hope that the family of the Uhl girls gets the compensation that they deserve. Like they stress, it wouldn’t be about the money, but about holding the state troopers responsible for their actions.