June 24 (UPI) — A Texas woman has been charged with killing her 3-year-old son after driving over him in a game of “chicken,” authorities said.
Lexus Stagg, 26, was charged with criminally negligent homicide after she ran over her child in broad daylight, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a press release Friday.
Stagg initially told police that she thought she had hit a speed bump while driving in reverse on June 11 and police had originally called the death of her son an unfortunate accident, KTRK reported.
But apartment complex surveillance video obtained by police shows that she drove her 2006 Lincoln Navigator into her child, the press release said.
According to the press release, Stagg drove her car towards her three children as they ran to the front of her SUV. Two of her children were able to get out of the way, but her 3-year-old son was struck, becoming stuck under the right front tire.
Stagg continued to drive forward and her son was run over again by the right back tire, the release said, adding that the child died as a result of his injuries.
“Every parent has an obligation to protect their children, even from themselves,” Ogg said. “Cars aren’t toys and playing chicken with your kids isn’t a game.”
Stagg was arrested Thursday and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Her bail was set at $1,500.
“You should be playing Peek-a-Boo with a 3-year-old instead of forcing him to try and dodge a 5,600-pound deadly weapon,” said Sean Teare, chief of the Vehicular Crimes Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, which will be prosecuting the case.
