Mother regularly engaged her children in a risky and reckless activity in which she would race to her vehicIe, Iock the doors, and pretend to leave them behind by driving away before seriously injuring one of them; sentenced

Indiana – An Indiana woman was ordered to serve four years at the county jail with work release and probation for two years after being let out after being convicted of seriously injuring her 8-year-old child. The incident occurred last year when the woman was arrested following an investigation into the injury of her child, whose condition raised immediate concern among authorities and medical professionals. The 27-year-old mother, Jasmin, pled guilty in January to two counts of neglect and will spend four years in a corrections facility and will have two years of probation after her release.

Authorities revealed that the mother often engaged in a game with her children, where she would race them to the car, lock the doors, and pretend to leave them behind by starting the engine and driving away. On one occasion, during this game, one of her daughters was hanging onto the front passenger door handle when she tripped and was run over by the moving vehicle.

The incident, which took place in August last year, left the child severely injured, with fractures to her skull and orbital bones, along with bruises, a deep facial laceration that reached the bone, and the loss of five teeth.

The child was found severely bleeding in the parking lot and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Investigators learned that the game had been a regular occurrence, with the mother’s other children confirming that their mother often engaged in similar activities. One sibling stated that on this occasion, the woman drove faster than usual.

Security footage from the apartment complex showed the woman entering the car, locking the doors, and driving away with the 8-year-old holding onto the door handle. The video corroborated the children’s accounts, capturing the vehicle moving several feet before disappearing from view.

One of the girl’s siblings, a six year old girl, described the game to investigators, with the sister revealing their mother was driving faster than usual and that the 8-year-old was holding onto the door handle when she was run over.

In court, the mother pleaded not guilty to charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury and neglect by placing her child in a dangerous situation. Despite her plea, she was convicted and sentenced to serve her four-year sentence in community corrections, allowing her to remain under supervised probation rather than in prison.

The child is now recovering and receiving both physical and emotional care to aid in her healing process. The case has sparked a wider conversation about the potential dangers of such games and the importance of child safety within the community.