A 26-year-old Houston woman has been charged with Criminally Negligent Homicide for running over her 3-year-old son with an SUV during a game of “chicken” with her kids.
According to an official statement from Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, Lexus Stagg initially told police that she thought her son was a speed bump when she accidentally backed over him earlier this month. However, video surveillance from her apartment complex tells a completely different story.
Stagg is reportedly seen driving her 2006 Lincoln Navigator toward her three young children as they also ran toward the front of her car. As a result, she hit her 3-year-old son, and he got caught under the right tire. Surveillance shows that Stagg ran over the boy once more with the back right tire of the SUV.
3-year-old Lord Renfro died at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital from the injuries he sustained from the vehicle. Authorities have not released his name.
“Every parent has an obligation to protect their children, even from themselves,” Ogg said. “Car’s aren’t toys and playing chicken with your kids isn’t a game.”
Stagg is being prosecuted by the Vehicular Crimes Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and she faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
“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,” said Sean Teare, chief of the Vehicular Crimes Division.
