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Mother, daughter charged in fatality after letting teen get behind wheel

Just so sad.

Very sad indeed. What was that woman thinking letting a 14 year old drive. They will forever have the burden of knowing that they took a life with their stupidity and I am sure the mother will suffer severe consequences for it as well. My sympathy to both families.

Did I read that right?! She left her daughter with the dead toddler and RAN FROM THE SCENE?? Unbelievable!!!

That is horrible.

Manslaughter seems like a pretty high charge for this sort of incident, negligent homicide (at most) seems more appropriate. I hope there are facts to support the manslaughter charge and it is not just punishment for failure to cooperate.

What a great mom to leave the scene when she had already broken the law letting her 14 year old drive. Guess she was one of those who was hoping for her daughter to take the wrap thinking she would only get a slap on the wrist and told no, no, because she was underage.

At the very least .... great parenting at it's very best!!

I see mom's all over our area letting their 14 year-olds drive. Maybe this will remind all of them why we wait until 16! Stop trying to be the "cool" moms! Let's be more responsible. May all those involved find comfort and peace in this horrible trying time!

So she wanted to play cool with her daughter but when it was time to step up for her, she ran away. It really doesn't make sense to me. A mother would burn herself just to protect her children. No sense at all.

She's probably young, and didn't know better. The sad part is now that her name is known, everyone will know who the 14 yr. old is. And she doesn't deserve the dirty looks, etc. that will eventually come her way. Her Mother was completely in the wrong. The daughter...not so much. I feel sorry for her, just as much as I do for the parents of the baby.

Yes, it's sad and the mother's actions are reprehensible, but the daughter, while I feel sorry for her, did break the law. And they do know better. There are a lot of reasons the legal age to drive in 16. Everyone in the day and age wants to push the envelope. When laws are broken there are consequences. This one just happens to be tragic. And no. the charges against the mother are not too harsh. She deserves it for leaving the scene.

SAD STORY. Parents need to watch their children. They cannot watch themselves. Truly heartbreaking.

How tragic. What can we say but to extend our heartfelt and deepest remorse? To the parents. This was a tragic act of a mother who wanted her 14 year old daughter to drive, but that ended in a horrible accident. How does one replace a lost life like that? How tragic that an otherwise lesser act of irresponsibility turned into a fatality. I can't imagine the guilt I'd feel to be a person in that situation. It's shocking that one would run from an accident like that. I pray that whatever healing needs to occur will. In the case of those who lost their child I can only extend my deepest sentiments of sympathies.

The primary difference between the two is that in manslaughter she was reckless versus being negligent. To me, it would be negligent if her daughter had a history of taking her car without permission and she did nothing to prevent it. It is reckless if she is out in the car with her and encouraging her to break the law. The facts seem to fit the charges.

@ RE: Uncanny

In this case I think the difference between "negligent" and "reckless" has less to do with the actual crime and more to do with the extenuating circumstances of the crime.

If the woman had stayed at the scene and owned up to the mistake and done what 90% of other thinking caring human beings would do the charge would have probably been Negligent Homicide, but she didn't, and her actions after the actual crime were despicable, so Manslaughter is the charge.

My prayers go out to both families. I honestly can't imagine...

Was the mother (who allowed her daughter to drive) tested for drugs/alcohol? There has to be more to this story than is being told.

Could the mom have run because she perhaps is in the country illegally? Might make some more sense that way.

What about moms and dads who let their 5-16yr. olds drive 4 wheelers, motorcycles, race cars and any other contraption?

No kidding. I live in an townhome complex and everyday I have to deal with 5 to 9 yo kids driving 4 wheelers in the parking lot and they don't go any slow ! Parents' excuse is they don't have any other place to do it but if that's the case, teach them to drive properly. Every time when I have to pull my car out of the garage, I have one of my family looking for me if one of the kids are coming around. I still remember once when I was pulling my car out and I don't know how in the name of heaven could see a todler crawling on the paviment of the parking lot just behind the car. A neighbor took him to his mother who was at her home clueless about what happened. To this day, I still shake when I think about it.

Would you rather her last name be Smith, Jones or Stevens???

Could you be any more insensitive and racist?

A child is dead.

You have to make sense of it, why???

Being a bigot is no way to help the situation.

My husband is in law enforcement and more times then not when a crime is committed by an illegal alien they run! Remember the SLC police officer hit and killed on his bike years ago? They let the illegal alien out of jail because of the outcry of racism and what did he do? He ran! Actions by this mother bring questions immediately. There is nothing of being a bigot when you have seen this type of behavior time and time again and you are trying to make sense of a horrible accident. Call it profiling call if being a bigot call it racism if you want. It's a tragedy and yes, most people try to make sense of something that is so horrible. It's normal. We are heart broken that a little child died.