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7-year-old killed texting for help after father crashed car near Detroit Metro Airport

The crash investigation prompted police to close eastbound I-94 near Detroit Metro Airport for a period of time Sunday morning.

A 7-year-old Detroit girl whose father had been involved in a suspected drunken driving crash was struck and killed trying to cross I-94 Sunday morning at about the time she was texting police asking for help.

Police said she was “killed instantly.”

The girl’s name has not been released, but Michigan State Police First Lt. Michael Shaw said her father is in custody. Her mother has been notified.

The crash investigation prompted police to close eastbound I-94 near Detroit Metro Airport for a period of time Sunday morning.

The scope of the tragedy took some time to become clear as police tried to piece together what appeared to be separate incidents but in reality were three connected reports -- a drunken driving crash, a girl in need of help and a woman who thought she hit a pedestrian with her vehicle.

Michigan State Police became involved about 3:35 a.m., responding to a woman who thought she had hit a pedestrian, but when troopers arrived to the area of I-94 and Inkster, they could not find anyone.

A short time later, state police said troopers learned that Romulus police officers were investigating a crash on eastbound I-94 near Merriman involving a suspected drunken driver. Shaw said a man, who appeared to be extremely intoxicated when dealing with police, crashed into an abandoned car on I-94 and then off the highway through fencing.

As that incident was developing, Romulus police were getting text messages through 911 from a girl who said her father was dead and she needed help. Police tried to find the girl, whom they later discovered was the suspected drunken driver's daughter, but cell phone tracking technology is not precise and it took some time to locate her, Shaw said.

The girl's body was eventually discovered in the median.

She had been hit by the vehicle troopers were initially investigating. That driver was released.

Police on Sunday were opting not to interview the girl's mother. It's not clear where the girl's father was headed when he crashed.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.

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