The Two Seconds He Will Never Forget

"It was barreling down the street and coming around traffic," said Ivy, who swerved to avoid being hit. "He barely missed me."

Patience said he went home and hugged his children after the crash. Ivy, meanwhile, second-guesses his move to avoid the collision.

"If I had let this guy hit me head-on, these two kids would still be alive," Ivy said. "I wish I had let him hit me instead."

Haggerty, who came upon the wrecked vehicles but did not see the crash, has children the same ages as Octavia and Christopher Jr. "I'm still not completely over it," the officer said. "I think about it all the time. . . . Before, I would let my kids go ahead of me a bit. Now, they are right next to me."

Like several other witnesses questioned by police, Patience and Ivy disagree about whether officers were chasing the Honda. Patience is convinced that they were not; Ivy is just as sure that they were.

No Signs of Full Chase

D.C. police have a policy that restricts pursuits in almost all cases, except those involving violent crimes or deadly threats. In this case, Sgt. Ralph Wax, who investigated the pursuit and wrote the department's report on the incident, said officers followed proper procedure.

At least three witnesses told investigators that police cars were closely trailing Palmer's Honda. Several others, including Patience, said that they heard no sirens and that officers did not arrive for 20 or 30 seconds after the wreck, according to interviews and police reports.

Investigators found no skid marks at the scene to indicate that police cars had tried to stop suddenly after the collision, the report shows. Police cruisers also did not crash into the other cars at the intersection -- a near certainty had they been tailing the Honda at a high speed, Wax said.

The first officers to arrive at the intersection had to be told where Palmer had fled after the crash -- another indication that they were not close enough to have been involved in a chase, Wax said.

Suydan, the man closest to the crash scene, said police were not chasing Palmer at the time of the accident. However, once they started their pursuit, Suydan said, officers never should have stopped it.

"If they had kept chasing him with their sirens on, we never would have been in the street," he said.

Suydan, who lives in Laurel, and the children's mother said they are struggling to fill the void left by the sudden deaths of the children.

Boston, who has two daughters from a previous relationship, said she is writing a book about her emotions. Its title: "Watch the Rainbow After the Rain."

When she feels depressed, she said, she often plays an answering machine message left by Octavia.

Suydan, who lives in Laurel, started a small memorial fund in the children's names and has passed along donations to needy and honor roll students at the schools his son and daughter attended.

His bedroom is lined with photographs of his smiling children. He often wears necklaces emblazoned with their images. And, nearby at all times, he keeps a small bag containing some of the children's clothes, a colorful funeral program and condolence letters from their classmates.

A few months after the accident, he had their names tattooed on his wrists -- a permanent reminder of lives taken in a split-second before his eyes.

Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.