Drunk Texas Woman Arrested After Children Fall off Car While She Was Driving
A woman in Crowley, Texas was allegedly drunk when four children fell off the trunk of the car that she was driving. All four of the children were injured, one seriously. 38-year-old Kisha Young was driving back from a neighborhood pool and did not allow the children to sit in the car because they had wet bathing suits and she did not want them to mess up the interior. Instead, she told six children to ride on the trunk of the car while she and a friend rode inside.
Four of the six children, ranging in age from 8 to 14, fell from the trunk of the car when Young took a turn too fast. Young did not notice the children were not on the car anymore until she was about a block away, when she turned around and went back to the scene of the accident. According to witnesses at the scene, some of the children had road rash and were walking around while another was lying on the ground. According to one news source, a 12-year-old girl, who is the daughter of the passenger, sustained a serious head injury and is still in the hospital.
At the scene, Young failed a roadside sobriety test. She was arrested for a variety of charges, most of which were felonies. These included intoxication assault with a vehicle, injury to a child and driving while intoxicated with a child under 15. She is currently in jail in Texas in lieu of $110,00 bail.
While the names of the crimes that Young was charged with differ from those found in Florida, what she has been charged with is very similar to Florida crimes. In Florida, a first time DUI with children in the vehicle would be a misdemeanor that could carry up to 9 months in jail. The more serious charges would be those for the children being injured in the accident. An accident involving a serious bodily injury would be a felony that could carry up to 5 years in jail. The very act of driving drunk with children in the car would also likely result in child neglect charges.
Even if a driver is not drunk, they could face various charges such as child neglect and/or vehicular assault. This means that the driver of a car with unrestrained children riding on the outside of the vehicle could face a felony charge even if they are not drunk at all.
This is one of the rare instances where the passenger of a car could be held criminally responsible for the driver being drunk. The passenger here let her own children ride on the trunk of the car, something that amounts to child neglect. In Texas she may also be facing charges in this case and, if this had happened in Florida, it is likely she would face charges here as well.
