Although most of the world applauded Caitlyn Jenner after her powerful acceptance speech while accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the recent 2015 ESPYs, there was one person in attendance at the ceremony who was less than moved.
Jessica Steindorff, 29, who works as a talent manager and was present at the show, was also a driver involved in the fatal crash this past February on a Malibu highway in which Jenner’s black Cadillac Escalade smashed into the back of 69-year-old Kim Howe’s white Lexus, killing her instantly. Steindorff was driving a Prius near the scene and was also rear-ended by Jenner after she struck Howe’s vehicle.
Steindorff recently told Entertainment Tonight that she is disturbed that Jenner’s gender transition has attracted more media attention than the loss of Howe’s life and that she wants Jenner to “do the right thing and take responsibility for her actions.”
“I find it difficult to understand how the culture we live in can honor a person who is responsible for taking a life and injuring several others with both an award and a reality show,” Steindorff said. “I would hope that someone who seems to greatly value the importance of human existence would be more sensitive to the fact that she ended another person’s life.”
Investigators recently dismissed the possibility of Jenner facing felony charges for the accident ruling instead that while Jenner was inattentive, she was not drunk or texting at the time of the accident as first suspected. Jenner could still face a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the matter.
Steindorff filed a personal injury suit against Jenner in May and Howe’s family filed a wrongful death suit claiming the 65-year-old former Olympian was “careless, reckless and negligent.”
