A 25-year-old Texas woman is facing criminal charges after authorities say she told a 9-year-old girl to move a vehicle — a decision that ended in a crash and left the child injured.
Ladeja Pickett has been charged with injury to a child and endangering a child, according to court records in Bexar County. It’s not clear whether she has entered a plea, and no attorney was listed in the records.
Deputies were called to the scene in San Antonio shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. Investigators say Pickett told them she asked the child to move a car from her driveway while she was decorating her yard for Christmas. Pickett allegedly said the girl knew where the keys were and got them on her own.
Authorities say the child then lost control of the vehicle, jumped out, and the car struck a neighbor’s truck. The girl suffered a cut to her forehead and road rash on her leg, according to officials.
The child’s mother told local station KSAT that her daughter is still in the hospital. She said Pickett — described as a family friend — had no right to give a minor access to the keys.
