10-Month-Old Baby Dies After Falling Out of Car and Getting Run Over in Virginia: Police

Charmaine Patterson
·2 min read
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Mandatory Credit: Photo by Roger L Wollenberg/UPI/Shutterstock (12345518c) Prince William County police officers block the entrance to the National Museum of the Marine Corps where shots were fired yesterday in Quantico, Virginia, on October 29, 2010. This is the second time the museum has been targeted. Shots have also been fired at the Pentagon and a military recruiting center over the last two weeks but no one has been injured. Shots fired for second time at Marine Corps museum in Quantico, Virginia, United States - 29 Oct 2010

FILE: Roger L Wollenberg/UPI/Shutterstock

A 10-month-old baby girl is dead after falling out of a car before it fatally "struck" her.

The Prince William County Police Department in Virginia said via Twitter that it was looking into a "fatal crash" in Woodbridge Sunday afternoon, when the baby girl "was killed when she fell from a vehicle and was struck."

In the department's release shared Monday morning, police said a 35-year-old woman from Hyattsville, Maryland, was visiting relatives. When leaving in a 2013 Toyota Highlander, she "placed her 10-month-old daughter in the backseat unrestrained before driving a short distance to a nearby dumpster," police said.

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The woman, who has not been publicly identified, went back to the family's home to "pick up additional family members," according to deputies. One of her relatives opened the back door and "the unrestrained child fell from the vehicle onto the roadway."

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The mother "immediately" got out of the car to check on the child, however, the car was "still in drive" so when she left the vehicle it went forward and "struck the child," per the release.

The baby suffered a serious head injury and the mother took her to the hospital, where police were called. "The child died as a result of her injuries later in the day," officers said.

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The mother has not been charged, police added, noting that baby's identity would be concealed because of state law.

First Sergeant Jonathan Perok of the Prince William County Police Department tells PEOPLE it has nothing further to add at this time.

The investigation is ongoing.