A mother has been charged after her 7-year-old child fell out of her car window and was killed. It happened while the SUV was traveling northbound on the 5 freeway in Santa Clarita, California, at around 3 a.m. on Saturday.
The little girl's mother, Veronda Gladney, and her boyfriend, Michael Branch, have both been arrested on child endangerment charges.
The 28-year-old mom was reportedly the vehicle's driver. Officers responded to the scene after receiving a call that a car had struck an unknown object in the road. That object turned out to be the little girl, who was reportedly run over multiple times. The child died from her injuries.
"[The girl] was in the very back portion of the 1999 Lincoln Navigator," California Highway Patrol Officer Joshua Greengard told ABC7. "There were witnesses saying that she was either hanging out or playing in the back portion, the very very back portion of it. That window was already broken out, and it looks like she may have fallen out of the vehicle and then tragically died."
The little girl was not strapped into the car, the officer said. Sadly, it seems the child's death could have easily been prevented. Now both adults have been charged. The child's mother was charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count of child abuse causing death and a single felony count of vehicular manslaughter.
The mother's 39-year-old boyfriend was charged with one misdemeanor count of child abuse. Both suspects have entered not guilty pleas.
Officer Greengard shared that witnesses at the scene, including several who ran over the child, were severely distressed due to the circumstances.
"I've never had a kid falling out of a moving vehicle," he told ABC7. "I've been to numerous tragedies in my time, but this one is very unfortunate. It's very sad."
