Family thanks public after 6-year-old killed in Singapore crash
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- Sheyna Lashira Smaradiani's family issued a four-page statement on April 6 thanking the Singapore and Indonesian public, medical staff, and the Indonesian Embassy, saying "we are seen, we are held, we are loved."
- The 38-year-old female driver was charged on April 8 in Singapore's State Courts with two counts of driving without due care and attention, causing death and grievous hurt.
- Prosecutors alleged the driver failed to keep a proper lookout while making a right turn out of a Spring Street carpark, striking two pedestrians near the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple on Feb 6.
- The case was adjourned for six weeks, with the next pre-trial conference set for May 13; a gag order was granted under the Children and Young Persons Act because the driver's six-year-old son was in the car.
- Mother Raisha Anindra was seriously injured in the crash, admitted to Singapore General Hospital's high dependency unit with internal injuries and fractures, and was unable to say goodbye to her daughter.
- The family had been transiting through Singapore from Japan en route to Indonesia; Sheyna's remains were repatriated on Feb 8 and buried at Tanah Kusir cemetery in South Jakarta.
- Indonesian Ambassador Hotmangaradja Pandjaitan opened his home to the family and personally supported arrangements to take Sheyna home for burial before returning to be with Raisha in Singapore.
Why it matters: A routine stop in Singapore turned into a cross-border tragedy: a child died, her mother spent weeks in hospital, and a driver now faces two charges with a May 13 pre-trial conference ahead. The family's public gratitude — to strangers, embassy staff, and medical teams in both countries — underscores how a single traffic accident has mobilized diplomatic and community support spanning three nations.
