BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A 25-year-old woman has been arrested after investigators say she told a 9-year-old child to move a vehicle, leading to a crash that seriously injured the child in west Bexar County.
According to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Ladeja Pickett faces charges of injury to a child and endangering a child. Pickett was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Monday morning, jail records show.
Deputies responded to the crash around 4 p.m. Sunday in the 4200 block of Gossan Springs.
Pickett told investigators that she and others were putting up Christmas decorations at the home when she asked the child to move a vehicle.
The child was thrown from the vehicle and suffered serious injuries, including deep cuts and road rash, according to her mother. The mother said the girl remains hospitalized at University Health, where she has undergone multiple surgeries.
“(Ledeja Pickett) had no right to hand a minor keys, (Ledeja Pickett) had no right to put that car in reverse,” the child’s mother told KSAT. She asked to remain anonymous to protect her daughter’s identity.
The mother said Pickett was a family friend and that she repeatedly told Pickett that her daughter didn’t know how to drive, but Pickett insisted “she’s going to learn.”
Moments later, the mother said, Pickett put the vehicle in reverse, and the 9-year-old had her foot on the gas, not the brakes.
The mother said the vehicle shot out of the driveway, hit the curb, spun out twice, hit the curb again, and came to a stop after crashing into a neighbor’s truck.
“(The 9-year-old) had three surgical procedures since Sunday,” the mother said.
She said her daughter will be in a wheelchair, but they’re hopeful for a full recovery.
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