Parents charged after 7-year-old son killed in car accident
Samuele Jenkins and Jessica Marie Ivey. (Photo courtesy of the Gastonia County Sheriff's Office)
The parents of a 7-year-old boy who was hit and killed by a car were charged with involuntary manslaughter after allowing the child and his brother to walk home alone.
Jessica Ivey and Samuele Jenkins were charged with felony involuntary manslaughter, felony child neglect and misdemeanor child neglect after their son Legend died from his injuries after he was struck by a Jeep Cherokee driven by a 76-year-old woman on May 27 in Gastonia, North Carolina, according to a release from the Gastonia Police Department.
Authorities added that the woman driving the Jeep is not facing charges.
What happened in the incident?
Local perspective:
Legend and his 10-year-old brother were walking home alone from a Food Lion store, two blocks from their residence.
The Gaston Gazette reported that Jessica Ivey said she was shopping at Food Lion, and she let Legend and his older brother walk home from the grocery store. The news outlet noted that it was the first time she had allowed her kids to cross the street by themselves.
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Legend and his brother were leaving the store but had to cross a busy, four-lane street, and they attempted to walk between crosswalks, the Gaston Gazette noted.
When Legend tried to cross the street outside the crosswalk, he was hit by a car. The Gastonia Police Department told KAKE-TV in Kansas that Legend suffered life-threatening injuries and died at a local hospital.
Samuele Jenkins told WSOC-TV in Charlotte that he was on the phone with his sons when the crash occurred. "I heard my oldest son, he was like, 'Oh my God, Legend, no, no,'" he told the television station. "So I hung up and ... I ran to find them. Witnesses told WSOC that Legend "stepped into traffic as his older brother tried to hold him back."
Two days after the accident, Gastonia Police arrested Ivey and Jenkins, who are being held without bond.
KAKE-TV in Kansas reported that the parents are next scheduled to appear in court on June 20.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Gastonia Police, WSOC-TV in Charlotte, KAKE-TV in Kansas, and the Gaston Gazette. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.