text: When Carla Harris left her boyfriend Sunday night, she said she told him not to drink. They needed to drive later that night to pick up their daughter and a friend at the Waterworks Mall. 
   
   Pittsburgh police said Richard Benton, 53, of Wilkinsburg did not heed Ms. Harris' advice. When Ms. Harris, 52, of East Liberty returned home, she said Mr. Benton, who she did not realize had been drinking, volunteered to drive. 
   
   They got in a black Ford Explorer to pick up Shamera Harris and drop off one of her friends at a home on Schenley Manor Drive in Stanton Heights. 
   
   When they arrived at the friend's house, Ms. Harris said, Mr. Benton asked their daughter to get out of the car so he could take a picture because she looked beautiful. Mr. Benton fiddled with the gearshift and got out of the car, she said. 
   
   The car "just took off at full speed," dragging their 12-year-old daughter and slamming into a tree. 
   
   "I just panicked and I asked him, 'What did you do?' " 
   
   Ms. Harris said she tried to stop the car but could not. 
   
   "I ran to pull her out and gave her CPR and she was already gone. I tried. I prayed over her." 
   
   Shamera died at the scene about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. When Pittsburgh police arrived, Mr. Benton smelled of alcohol, slurred his speech, was "unsteady" on his feet and had "glassy and watery eyes," according to a criminal complaint. 
   
   Mr. Benton, who was released Monday morning on nonmonetary bond, could not be reached for comment. 
   
   Police wrote in the complaint that he refused a breath test and refused to comply with field sobriety tests. 
   
   Police handcuffed Mr. Benton at the scene and took him to a station for further tests. He again refused tests, saying he wanted to contact an attorney, according to the complaint. 
   
   After consulting with the Allegheny County district attorney's office, police charged Mr. Benton with driving under the influence and took him to UPMC Mercy for treatment of minor injuries before he went to the Allegheny County Jail. 
   
   The Allegheny County medical examiner's office found during an autopsy that Shamera died of blunt force trauma and ruled her death an accident. The police investigation continues. 
   
   Ms. Harris said she did not realize Mr. Benton had been drinking and that she would not have gotten in the car -- let alone permitted children to ride in it -- if she had suspected he was drunk. 
   
   "This is a horrible death. She didn't deserve that," Ms. Harris said. Friends and family visited Ms. Harris at her Highland Park home Monday to offer condolences. 
   
   Shamera made the honor roll at Pittsburgh Dilworth PreK-5, her mother said. In her few months at Pittsburgh Obama 6-12, where she enjoyed swimming, she earned a reputation as a "pleasant young lady, who always followed the rules in every one of her classrooms," according to a statement from the school district. 
   
   The school was closed Monday due to a power outage. School support staff are expected to be available to talk to students today. 
   
   Shamera enjoyed using the computer and making plans with friends on Facebook -- like the ones she made Sunday night to see a new Kevin Hart movie at the Waterworks Mall with a group of friends. 
   
   "She was just my gift from God," her mother said. 
   
   Ms. Harris said she had been told that she would never have children, then at age 40, she had Shamera, her only child. 
   
   She said Mr. Benton called her after he was released from jail Monday. "I can't talk to him right now. I just can't. He has other children. I have none." ||||| By Megan Harris and Margaret Harding 
   
   Carla Harris saw blood on her daughter's blue jacket before paramedics arrived, and she knew Shamera was dead. 
   
   On Monday, no sunlight permeated the East Liberty home where family members and friends invited the Tribune-Review to talk about the life of Shamera Harris, 12, who died the night before when her father's Ford Explorer rolled backward, dragging the girl into a tree while her mother tried frantically to crawl into the driver's seat and put the SUV in park, she said. 
   
   The girl's father, Richard Benton, 53, slurred his speech and smelled of alcohol at the scene of the crash on Schenley Manor Drive, according to the criminal complaint police filed when charging him with drunken driving. 
   
   Carla Harris said Benton “seemed normal” when he dropped by late Sunday and offered to pick up Shamera and a friend from The Waterworks mall. 
   
   “If I had known he was drinking, I never would've let him (drive),” she said. 
   
   On their way to the other child's home on Schenley Manor Drive, Benton pulled over to snap a picture. Benton was “messing around with the gear shifter” just before Shamera stepped out of the car, police said Harris told them. 
   
   Officials weren't sure how the SUV caught the girl or how quickly the car rolled back. Collision investigators will inspect the vehicle, Lt. Daniel Herrmann said. He called the incident a “terrible accident.” 
   
   “If there's reason to believe (Benton) is responsible for this girl's death, then there will be charges,” Herrmann said. 
   
   Teachers at Pittsburgh Obama 6-12 School said through Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh that Shamera was “a quiet, pleasant young lady who always followed the rules in every one of her classrooms.” The school was closed because of a power outage, but counselors will be available on Tuesday, Pugh said. 
   
   Funeral arrangements through Cleft of the Rock Ministries were not finalized. 
   
   Shamera is the second in her family to die suddenly, the family said. 
   
   One relative, Jacquet Bazemore, 63, of Highland Park, pointed to a pair of fading photographs on top of the family's television. Shamera, age 8 or 9, grins in pastels beneath long, dark braids. Shakkeem Harris, then a toddler, laughs with his father, Shawn. Two years ago, officers found Shakkeem, at age 22, face-down and shot in Morningside's Joe Natoli Field. 
   
   “We've endured so much tragedy,” said Joyce Harris, their grandmother. “Now both our babies are gone.” 
   
   It's hard to reconcile senseless mistakes, Shawn Harris said. 
   
   Carla Harris, 51, a longtime crossing guard at Dilworth School in Highland Park, called Shamera her miracle baby and best friend. 
   
   “I wasn't supposed to have children, but God blessed me with her at 40. We did everything together,” she said. “She walked to my post at 4:30 (p.m.) every day, her and all her girlfriends. Now I'll see them cross and not my baby girl.” 
   
   Officers said Benton refused field and chemical sobriety tests. He was released from Allegheny County Jail midday under conditions that he report to court at 10 a.m. Tuesday and participate in a substance-abuse treatment program. 
   
   Court records indicate Benton, whom Harris said is a school bus driver, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in Georgia in 1996 and to simple harassment in 2012. Allegheny County records don't indicate whom Benton harassed. 
   
   Megan Harris and Margaret Harding are Trib Total Media staff writers. Reach Harris at 412-388-5815 or mharris@tribweb.com. Reach Harding at 412-398-7543 or mharding@tribweb.com.
target: – A 12-year-old Pittsburgh girl died on her first date last night when her father's car dragged her about 50 feet and slammed into a tree, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. The girl, Shamera Harris, got out of her father's SUV so her parents could snap a photo of her and her date, but the vehicle began rolling backwards. Shamera's dad, 53-year-old Richard Benton, was "messing around with the gear shifter" before exiting the vehicle, according to the girl's mom, Carla Harris. "He thought the vehicle was in park," said a police sergeant. "In fact, it must have been out of gear and went over her, dragging her down the hill and then crashing into a yard." Shamera's parents had picked up her and her date at Waterworks Mall and drove them back to the boy's place when tragedy struck. Paramedics arrived and tried to resuscitate the girl but she "wasn't moving," a neighbor told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Police say Benton, who was charged with a DUI, smelled of booze and had "slurred speech and glassy, watery eyes." He refused a field sobriety test on the scene and a chemical test of his breath while in custody, and asked to see an attorney. "If there's reason to believe he's responsible for this girl's death, then there will be charges," said a lieutenant. "It's one of those things where you have to wait and see."