Carissa Nwene’s Family Tries To Find Closure

Shelia Barnett takes deep breaths, as she faces her biggest fear: visiting her daughter at the cemetery for the first time in more than a year.

Within seconds of seeing Carissa Nwene’s crypt, Shelia loses it and walks away.

“That’s not the way I want to see her,” she said, fighting back tears. “I like to to see her smiling — not in a wall. This is hard.”

Nov. 16 marks the anniversary of Carissa’s death. Three years ago, while she walked to school in an open field along Palm Dr., a driver hit her and left her for dead.

Carissa’s killer has never been found.

“I was still in front of my home when I heard the sound. I heard the crash,” Shelia said. “I looked up and, because the weeds were so tall, I didn’t see anything.”

Sgt. Dan Bressler, from the Desert Hot Springs Police Department, says detectives have not received any substantial leads for several months. But, Carissa’s case remains open and active. It is not a cold case.

“There are few cases unsolved in this city from years ago, but this is the one that strikes out to all of us,” he said. “This is the one that gives us the most consternation because we feel it’s solvable.”

A wooden cross has been placed at the spot where her body was found. Detectives say it happened between 7:45 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.

In pure daylight.

Detectives say the person who hit Carissa drove a 2003-2005 white Ford Econoline van.

“Someone out there knows what happened,” Bressler said. “Someone out there worked on that van. Someone out there saw that van go into a garage, and someone out there is just not telling us.”

After Carissa’s death, the city built a sidewalk along her deadly path; Lamar advertising donated a billboard along the I-10 freeway pleading for help; and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger increased the reward from $10,000 to $50,000.

As for Shelia, she found a new calling in life. She created the CarissaNwene.org Web site a couple of months ago, and she is pushing for the “Carissa Nwene Law.”

“When a new school is built, you need to provide safety for this school,” she explained. “Make sure sidewalks are going in at the same time that the school is being built.”

Shelia also wants to start a scholarship in Carissa’s honor. Carissa always wanted to go to law school.

Desert Hot Springs is not the same city as it was three years ago. Surveillance cameras now dot the city. Police can zoom close enough to determine a license plate number.

If only these cameras existed then.

“We would’ve seen them [suspects] come through to Two Bunch Palms and Palm Dr.,” said Bressler. “We would’ve seen it through Hacienda. We would’ve seen it come through Ironwood. If it had made a U-turn, we would’ve caught it at Dillon Rd.”

Bressler believes there is still hope in this era of innovative information-sharing. He said detectives are tapping into new databases all the time.

One of those databases may crack the case. Better late than never.

Since Carissa’s death, the family has filed a civil lawsuit against the city for $5 million. The lawsuit is still in litigation.

Nov. 16 also happens to be Shelia and her husband’s wedding anniversary.

To sign a petition supporting the “Carissa Nwene Law,” go to her website.