Bad News Bears star Sammi Kane Kraft recently died in a car accident in Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol says that the 20-year-old actress was in an Audi with a drunk driver who rear-ended a semi-truck last Tuesday around 1:30 a.m.
After hitting the truck on I-10, the Audi was then hit by another vehicle. Kraft was pronounced dead at a hospital according to her brother. The Audi driver was treated for injuries and then arrested on felony drunk driving charges.
Drunk driving is a large problem across California and often results in fatal crashes such as this one. DUI crashes involving trucks are more likely to result in fatalities because of the significantly greater size of semi-trucks and possibly dangerous cargo. It is unclear whether the other drivers involved were seriously injured in the crash.
Kraft was scouted at a Los Angeles baseball diamond and cast for the 2005 Bad News Bears remake at the age of 13. She played the role of Amanda Whurlitzer, who was originally played by Tatum O’Neal in the 1976 movie.
USA Today reports that Kraft studied at San Francisco State and played in an indie folk band called Scary Girls after she graduated high school in 2010. This year Kraft returned to Los Angeles and went to Santa Monica College.
Source: USA Today, “‘Bad News Bears’ actress, 20, dies in car crash,” Oct. 12, 2012
