Mom unlikely to face charges in son’s death
July 31, 2007 - 9:00 pm
The 34-year-old woman who killed her toddler when she backed her sport utility vehicle over him Monday morning probably will not be charged in connection with the accident, Las Vegas police said.
Amy Vincent was backing up her 2000 Chevrolet Suburban about 9:45 a.m., when she hit her 20-month-old son, Gabriel Thomas Vincent, who had run out of the family's mobile home to greet his mother, Sgt. Tracy McDonald said.
The boy died at the scene at the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort, 2711 W. Windmill Lane, near Paradise Road. Gabriel's 13-year-old stepsister had been watching him when he escaped from the home, McDonald said.
Investigators found no evidence of reckless driving or drug or alcohol use on Vincent's part, so they would likely not press charges, McDonald said.
"It was just a lot of things going the wrong way this morning," he said.
Gabriel's parents were so distraught over the accident that they went to a hospital for treatment, McDonald said.
More than 2,400 children in the United States are hit or rolled over by vehicles moving backwards each year, according to statistics from the safety group Kids and Cars. On average about two children, mostly toddlers, die each week in such accidents.
In 60 percent of the accidents, a large vehicle is involved, and a parent or close relative is the driver in about 70 percent of the cases, according to Kids and Cars.
The group supports legislation before Congress that would require federal regulations intended to ensure drivers can detect children when backing up. The legislation would mandate safety equipment like rearview cameras.