Mother runs over 8-year-old child while allegedly playing a game with her car

St. Joseph County Prosecutor\'s Office

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story contains graphic descriptions of injuries to a young child. While gruesome, we believe it is important to include the full extent of the injuries to highlight the severity of the incident.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- On Aug. 29, an eight-year-old child was struck by a vehicle at the Cedar Glen Apartment complex around 6 p.m., resulting in the child being taken to the hospital with severe facial and foot lacerations. Earlier this week, at the conclusion of an investigation by the St. Joseph County Fatal Accident Team (FACT), the driver of the car was arrested and charged with multiple counts of Neglect of a Dependent. 

Twenty-seven-year-old Jasmine White was the alleged driver of the vehicle and the mother of the children chasing it. She was arrested and charged with one felony count of Neglect of a Dependent Resulting in Serious Injury, and one count of felony Neglect of a Dependent (placing the dependent in a dangerous situation). 

"SBPD officers spoke with witnesses on the scene, who stated that they had observed [the victim] as well as several of [their] siblings running alongside the Chevy Equinox, which was moving, when [the victim's] foot was caught under the rear passenger tire and she was dragged down, with her face hitting the pavement, causing the most severe injuries," said St. Joseph County FACT Commander Timothy Spencer.

The victim was taken to Memorial Hospital where staff diagnosed them with skull and orbital fractures, the loss of five teeth, various abrasions, and a large facial laceration that had exposed a portion of the front of the child's skull.

One of the victim's six-year-old siblings told authorities the children had been dropped off at Cedar Glen where White works. The child said that while going to the car to leave, White locked the doors and tried to drive off.

White was allegedly driving faster than normal while doing this, and [the victim] was holding on to the door handle when she got run over and went down, hitting her head. The child said White was aware [the victim] was holding onto the handle because White could see the victim and one of the other children had yelled it out loud.

"[The six-year-old witness] stated that [White] routinely plays this 'game' where she races the kids to the car, locks the doors, and acts as though she is going to leave them behind," Spencer said. "[The six-year-old witness] stated that the children don't like the game and are afraid they will get stranded."

Another sibling of the victim, a nine-year-old, told investigators that they have played this game before, but this time White started slow but sped up, with [the victim] holding onto the door handle.

When White went fast, the nine-year-old sibling says the victim tripped and hit her head and got run over.

"When [the victim] got up there was a big cut on her head and [the nine-year-old sibling] could see [the victim's] skull," Spencer said.

In addition to blood at the scene, officers also found one of the victim's teeth on the ground where she appears to have hit the pavement.

While on scene, the property manager for Cedar Glen Apartments gave officers a copy of security footage from the parking lot.

The following statement is a report from St. Joseph County FACT Commander Timothy Spencer after viewing security footage:

[White's] Equinox is parked in the back lot in front of one camera. [White] appears to say something to the children, gets in the car, and locks the doors. [The victim] then starts touching the front passenger door and motioning to her mother. [White] then slowly backs out of the parking spot while [the victim] is still touching the door, [White] turns the vehicle to face the exit, and stops briefly, then slowly begins moving forward. [The victim] is still touching the door, and now the remaining children all approach the vehicle, which has begun heading towards E. Jefferson Blvd.

As the vehicle increases in speed, one child moves further away from the vehicle. The smallest child appears to almost trip, and afterwards backs away from the car. [The victim] is seen still hanging on to the front passenger door handle as the vehicle goes just off screen of the second camera, which is approximately four to five feet past where the blood and tooth were found at the scene. At that point, [White] is driving approximately 15-20 mph, and [the victim] is the only child still in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle.

Authorities say Memorial Hospital physicians were able to stabilize the victim, and they were eventually released from the hospital after several days of hospitalization that included intubation and IV sedation.

White's initial court date was set for this Monday, Sept. 16.