More charges filed in crash that killed baby in Dillon County
Published: January 22, 2009
Updated: January 23, 2009
A Hamer man faces two more charges in connection with a crash that killed a baby boy Wednesday night in Dillon County.
Lonnie Latron Freeman, 26, is charged with reckless homicide and driving under suspension, S.C. Highway Lance Cpl. Sonny Collins said.
Freeman was charged Thursday with leaving the scene of an accident.
The crash happened about 8:30 p.m. on Oakland Road near Harley’s Bridge Road, according to highway patrol reports.
Freeman was driving the car when it ran off the road, struck a tree and threw 11-month-old Rodrigo Juarez Marcelo from the vehicle.
The baby wasn’t in a child restraint seat and died at the scene.
Two other people who also were inside the car when it crashed were treated for their injuries.
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This was a tragedy that could have been prevented…there were so many factors that contributed to this child’s death. As terrible as this was, I have issues with the way the 911 operator handled the original call about this accident. Clearly, the witnesses were upset, panicked, scared…and the 911 operator was more interested in being a smart-alec than anything (oh, did anyone notice the part where the caller said a car was overturned, and the operator seemed to speak in a side conversation to someone about something completely unrelated to the call?) I am aware that they have to get as much information as quickly as possible, but everyone can hear the screaming in the background, the mother searching for her child…and the dispatcher is more concerned about what color and type of car it is. Here’s an idea…when you come to the curve, and see vehicles pulled onto the side of the road, and a car upside down in the trees, that’s PROBABLY your accident site. I mean…she said the car was burgundy…so does that mean if a grey car was wrecked, they would just pass on by because it wasn’t the car in question?? I doubt it. It was 8:30 at night, on a dark country road. It really wouldn’t have made much of a difference what color it was. It was just handled ridiculously. I know all of the witnesses who stopped to help, and I know they put their personal safety at risk to help these accident victims…especially because the driver of the wrecked car tried to flee the scene in the witnesses vehicles (which were locked, thankfully). The caller did not deserve to be treated the way she was. **I found the 911 calls on wmbfnews.com**
I fell terrible for the mother of this child, that she has to live with this the rest of her life…My cousin and her fiance acttually were first on the scene and made the 911 call. They could have kept driving by but they stopped and did everthing they could to help while waiting for emergency services. I commend them for showing compassion to these people…
As i was going thru the website and noticed the title of this article my heart dropped, it went out to the family but as i got into the article and noticed that they were SO CARELESS as to not put that poor kid into a carseat, THEY ALL NEED TO PAY….this goes out to anyone if you get into a car with a child and the parent/driver dont want to put them into a carseat REFUSE to ride..thats puttin you liable for that childs life too…HE’S IN A BETTER PLACE——RIP!
My heart does out to this family, not only for losing a precious child but knowing this may have been avoided if
the child was in a carseat, so many people think this will not happen to them,or they are going only a short distance.
hopefully others will learn from this.
AMEN! unknown…I would add one word to your statement…..CORRECTLY strapped in. I also see children in carseats that are not properly strapped in the carseat which could be just as life threatening.
Everyone in that car needs to be brought up on vehicular manslaughter charges. This incident could have been prevented but it looks like ignorance took over. This makes me so angry. I see people driving around all the time with children playing in the backseat or sitting in the drivers lap. Does anyone CARE why the law states a child HAS TO BE IN A CAR SEAT STRAPPED IN!
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