Police arrested a mother, Veronda Gladney, and her boyfriend, Michael Branch, for child endangerment after a seven-year-old girl died when she fell out of a moving SUV onto the northbound Golden State Freeway over the Fourth of July weekend. The incident occurred on the 5 Freeway in Los Angeles County.
California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported that the girl was fatally injured at 3:40 a.m., Saturday, near Weldon Canyon Road.
Officers responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call from someone reporting that a vehicle had struck an unknown stationary object blocking the roadway. It turned out that the unknown object was the girl who had been hit by several vehicles, according to The Sun.
The highway patrol officer called the incident the most tragic accident he had seen in 14 years.
7-Year-Old fell from moving SUV
As per the investigation, the police determined that the seven-year-old girl fell out of the moving 1999 Lincoln Navigator through an open window, resulting in the girl sustaining fatal injuries. The circumstances of how she fell out are under investigation, United News-Post reports.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) said that Gladney, 28, was the driver of the Lincoln, while Branch, 39, and the seven-year-old girl were the passengers.
The child was not in a child seat when she stumbled out of the broken back window, as the girl was in the very rear portion of the vehicle.
Witnesses said the girl was either hanging out or playing in the back portion. She might have fallen out of the vehicle because the window was broken. Multiple cars hit the girl at freeway speeds, causing her fatal injuries.
CHP officer Joshua Greengard said that he had never seen a crash like it in his 14 years of service with the highway patrol. He said that he has been to numerous tragedies, but this one is very unfortunate.
He added that the witnesses were very upset, especially the girl's mom.
Charges against mom and boyfriend
Gladney, the girl's mom, was charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count of drug abuse causing death and a single felony count of vehicular manslaughter. Her boyfriend, Branch, was charged with one misdemeanor count of child abuse. Both suspects pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. It is still unclear if either had legal representation.
As per Newsweek, California Law stipulates that children under the age of eight must be seated in car seats or booster seats if they are under a certain height.
