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Child dies after getting ran over: legal questions
On Sunday, we showed you Ring camera video of the moments a toddler was run over by an Uber driver. A group of adults then took the driver out of his vehicle and attacked him. FOX 26's Abigail Dye took your questions to an expert and got us some answers.
HOUSTON - A tragic incident where an Uber ran over a toddler over the weekend has many online asking questions.
FOX 26 brought those questions to an expert, defense attorney and former vehicular crime prosecutor Brian Foley.
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He says there is a possibility that the driver could be held accountable for the toddler's death, but it all comes down to their state of mind at the time.
"The two charges that could be applicable here are criminally negligent homicide or manslaughter, which means reckless homicide. So, depending on the mental state of the driver, that would [determine] his criminal capability," he said.
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He explained that caretakers of a child have a responsibility for a child's safety and therefore, they could be held accountable.
He also explained that those seen in the video hitting the driver would not be protected by any self-defense laws given the apparent circumstances, so, they could be looking at assault charges.
Though these are all possibilities, Foley says in this specific case, he sees this as a tragedy and doesn't expect criminal charges to come of it.
"Not every tragedy involves criminal behavior," he said. "From what I saw in the video, I don't think any person there wanted this to happen. It didn't appear that extreme negligence or gross deviation from the standard of care happened and because of that it looks like a tragedy," he said.
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Uber released this statement: "Our thoughts are with the toddler’s family after this heartbreaking tragedy. We have removed the driver’s access to the platform while this investigation is ongoing and are standing by to assist police however we can."