Texas mom who fatally ran over 3-year-old son with her SUV twice during game of chicken charged
What was initially seen as an accident has now turned into a homicide. A Texas mother, identified as Lexi Stagg, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide after her three-year-old child Lord Renfro was hit and run over by her Lincoln Navigator SUV while she was behind the wheel. Harris County District Attorney's Office said that the incident occurred on June 11 at the Grand at Westchase Apartments.
In the preliminary stages of the investigation, Houston police believed that it was a very "unfortunate incident". "The three-year-old child ran behind her vehicle as she backed out of her parking spot," HPD's Lt. Thurston Roberson had said. The mother also maintained that it was an accident and she had thought that she hit a speed bump while she was reversing her car. However, surveillance video that has emerged shows a different story.
The boy had been run over while she was driving forward and not in reverse, unlike her statement. The boy went under her right tire but she had continued to drive, running him over twice. Two other children also shown in the footage were uninjured after avoiding the vehicle successfully.
"The children followed the car, at which point the defendant put her car into drive and drove toward her children as they were running toward her," Prosecutor Sean Teare of the county's vehicular crimes division told Dallas News. "The two older children were able to get out of the way, and tragically, the younger child was not."
In a press release, he added, "You should be playing peek-a-boo with a three-year-old instead of forcing him to try and dodge a 5,600-pound deadly weapon."
Her bail has been set to $1,500. If convicted, Stagg could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison. The DA's office thinks that it was an unnecessary game. "Every parent has an obligation to protect their children, even from themselves," said District Attorney Kim Ogg said. "Cars aren't toys and playing chicken with your kids isn't a game."