Woman accused in child's death wasn't given permission to take him from Houston daycare

Jeff Ehling Image
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Woman who accidentally killed boy was not authorized to take him from Houston daycare
The driver of an SUV in a deadly accident was not authorized to take him from a Houston daycare, she says.

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The woman who accidentally ran over and killed a 4-year-old boy says no family member gave her permission to take the child from the daycare.

The 81-year-old woman can be seen on surveillance video trying to stop her SUV from running over the child but she is knocked to the ground.

She told police she thought the boy was inside the SUV but he was not.

I spoke with her this morning and while she did not want to appear on camera, off camera she told me she was not authorized by any family member to take the boy.

Her 4-year-old grandson and the 4-year-old victim both attended the same elementary school, and as a courtesy she was taking both boys to school from the daycare.

I asked who gave her authority to take Anthony and she said no one, that the daycare allowed it and we would have to speak to daycare owners about why she was allowed to take a child that is not related to her.

She is very distraught over what happened.

She told me quote, "My heart is heavy. I can't fix this. I wish it was me. I was trying to do a good thing and now I am caught up in this."

She went on to say her heart is broken. It will be up to a Grand Jury to determine if she faces any criminal charges.

We have tried several times to speak with the owner of the daycare but our calls have not been returned.