The North Carolina parents of a 7-year-old boy were arrested after their son was killed by a vehicle while unsupervised. According to the Daily Mail, the couple, Sameule Jenkins and Jessica Ivey, allowed 7-year-old Legend Jenkins to walk home from the grocery store without them.
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Vehicle Fatally Hits 7-Year-Old Who Was Walking Home Without Parent Supervision
While heading home last Tuesday, the boy was crossing the street without a crosswalk and was hit by an SUV. Two days later, his parents faced multiple charges such as felony child neglect, felony involuntary manslaughter, and misdemeanor child neglect, per WBTV.
Legend tragically died in Gastonia after a 76-year-old woman drove into him when he ran into traffic around 6 PM. Although the parents were absent, they allegedly had Legend’s 10-year-old brother walk home with him. His older brother tried pulling Legend, but he couldn’t hold him back.
Upon arriving on the scene, Gastonia Police found Legend with critical injuries. No one else on the scene was injured. This tragic accident quickly led to the authorities arresting and charging the parents.
WSOC spoke with one of the witnesses to the incident. She described seeing Legend’s brother try to pull him back as he stepped in front of a car. “That shocked me,” said Summer Williams.
Williams immediately stopped her car, hopped out, and held the young boy in her arms. In that moment, he was still alive, so she rubbed him to try and give him some comfort.
“Even at night, I still see his face,” she said. “Just letting him know that somebody was there and he wasn’t alone. Stay with us, sweetheart. You’re going to be alright. Stay with us.” Once emergency responders brought him to the hospital, he later died there.
7-Year-Old Dies After First Time Mother Allowed Sons To Walk Home Alone
The outlet also reported that the mother told them this was the first time she let her children walk alone. Despite the untimely accident, police don’t have sympathy for the parents. And neither does Williams.
“The children were very young,” the witness continued. “They shouldn’t have been crossing a busy intersection like that in the first place.”
While in court, the parents asked the judge to let them attend Legend’s memorial service. The judge said to contact their attorneys and proceeded to give them both a bond of $1.5 million.
As for the driver, police said that there was no evidence of reckless driving or speeding. In this case, they don’t have any plans to charge the SUV driver.