An international student killed in a hit-and-run in Adelaide after being struck while kneeling on a road with her hands in what appeared to be a praying motion has been remembered by her family as a young woman whose life was full of promise.
Ashton Friend, 20, of Banksia Park, has avoided serving time in prison after being sentenced over the death of 20-year-old Samia Malik, who was struck on North East Road at Hillcrest in Adelaide’s north-east at around 11pm on 6 May 2025.
As per ABC, Friend previously pleaded guilty to causing death by careless use of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident after causing death.
South Australia’s District Court heard that CCTV footage showed Malik had been kneeling on the road for about four minutes before the collision.
ABC reports that Judge Anne Barnett said her hands appeared to be in a “praying motion”. The court heard no explanation for why the young woman was on the road.
During sentencing, the court heard Friend had not seen Malik and did not initially realise he had hit a person while driving home from his girlfriend’s house.
Defence barrister Jane Abbey KC said Friend heard a noise and initially hoped he had struck an animal or something else on the road. She also told the court there had been relatively little damage to his car.
Friend later saw a news report about the incident but was described as being in a “state of paralysis”. He read an apology to the court, saying he was deeply sorry and would have to carry his failures with him for the rest of his life.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Frank Niemann, Malik’s sister, Qudisya Malik, described the family’s continuing grief and the emptiness left by her death.
“Nothing can ever replace Samia. We have lost a daughter, a sister, a friend and a remarkable young woman who had so much life ahead of her.”
She added that the family continued to feel the loss at every important milestone, with an empty place where Samia should have been.
“Samia will always remain part of our family. She may no longer be physically with us but she continues to live on in our hearts.”
It is reported that the court heard that other motorists had swerved around Malik before she was struck. A police vehicle travelling some distance behind Friend was able to brake and stop without hitting her.
Niemann said police had carried out “impressive police work” to identify Friend. He told the court that Friend had not turned himself in, even after becoming aware that he was the person who had struck Malik, and had waited for police to find him.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Malik’s brother, Zaheer Malik, launched a GoFundMe appeal to help the family cover funeral expenses and lay his sister to rest.
In the appeal, he described Samia as a 20-year-old international student who had come to Australia with dreams and courage, studying while paying her own way through university.
Writing in the wake of her death, he said the family was struggling to meet funeral costs while coping with the loss of a young woman who had been far from home.
“She was only 20. She had her whole life ahead of her.”
Judge Barnett sentenced Friend to one year, three months and 29 days in prison, with a non-parole period of eight months. The sentence was suspended after he entered a bond requiring him to be of good behaviour for two years.
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