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12-Year-Old In Medically Induced Coma After Being Hit By A Drunk Driver

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A 12-year-old honor student is in a medically-induced coma tonight after she was hit by an accused drunk driver.  Now her family faces a tough decision.

Deputies assigned to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's Compton Station responded to a traffic
collision last Friday, in which a vehicle collided with 12 year-old Kailyn Williams, while she was riding her bike near her home in Compton.

According to deputies, the driver, Thomas Abraham Long, was driving westbound on West Arbutus Street, west of North Matthisen Avenue  in a gold Chrysler Concorde.  A witness stated Long's vehicle
was driving about 25 mile per hour at the time of the collision.

Long stopped at the scene and was arrested for Driving under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs. The
District Attorney has filed Felony Driving under the Influence charges and he was arraigned today and is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Her family has gathered at Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach where Williams has finished brain surgery and lays in a medically induced coma with swelling on the brain.  Doctors say the child's days are numbered and in the coming days, the family will have to make a tough decision.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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