A 7-year-old girl was killed after she fell out of a moving SUV going northbound on the 5 Freeway in Santa Clarita, California, early Saturday morning.
The girl’s mother, 28-year-old Veronda Gladney, and her boyfriend, 39-yrar-old Michael Branch, were arrested for child endangerment, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said.
Gladney was driving the vehicle near Weldon Canyon Road around 3 a.m. when the incident occurred. Branch was a passenger in the SUV.
Officers responded to the scene after receiving a call from a person who said a vehicle “had struck an unknown stationary object, which was blocking the roadway,” CHP said.
“[The girl] was in the very back portion of the 1999 Lincoln Navigator,” CHP Officer Joshua Greengard said. “There were witnesses saying that she was either hanging out or playing in the back portion, the very very back portion of it. That window was already broken out, and it looks like she may have fallen out of the vehicle and then tragically died.”
Officer Greengard also said that the girl was not strapped into a child seat when she fell out of the window.
Gladney was charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count of child abuse causing death, and a single felony count of vehicular manslaughter, Ricardo Santiago, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, told local outlet Hometown Station.
Branch was charged with one misdemeanor count of child abuse. Both suspects plead not guilty on Wednesday, according to Santiago.
“I’ve never had a kid falling out of a moving vehicle,” added Officer Greengard. “I’ve been to numerous tragedies in my time, but this one is very unfortunate. It’s very sad.”
Officer Greengard said witnesses – including the drivers who hit the child, as well as Gladney – were all severely distressed at the scene.
“From other officers, I know she was distraught also,” he said.
The incident remains under investigation, and anyone with information is being urged to contact the CHP Newhall Area Office at 661-600-1600.
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