FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ A woman driving a Hyundai Santa Fe that struck and killed a toddler who ran into a Deerfield Beach street was dragged out of her SUV and beaten, the Broward Sheriff's Office said Monday.
Neallie Junior Saxon III, who would have turned 2 on Dec. 12, was struck by a maroon 2007 Hundai Santa Fe at about 4:45 p.m. local time Sunday. The crash happened in front of his grandmother's home, in the 300 block of Northwest Fourth Place.
Detectives said Neallie was one of several children chasing a ball that was thrown or rolled from the yard and into the street. The kids often played outside without adult supervision, as they were Sunday afternoon, spokeswoman Gina Carter said.
The driver, who Carter said is not being identified for her own protection, had been driving within the speed limit while traveling east on Northwest Fourth Place. Her SUV struck Neallie, who was shorter than the bumper.
It was unlikely he would have been visible to the driver who may have been distracted by the other children in the street, the sheriff's office said.
The driver was not aware she had hit Neallie and did not slow down. She stopped at the next stop sign and several unidentified people pulled her from the SUV and beat her. The woman was treated at a hospital for injuries that included several fractures to her face and head.
The battery is also being investigated by detectives, the sheriff's office said.
Neallie was flown to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale where he died later Sunday, according to the investigation. The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office was scheduled to perform an autopsy Monday.
A few blocks north of Hillsboro Boulevard off Northwest Third Avenue, a line of sand covered a blood stain. It stretched a few feet away from the family's home across the street, to where a brown teddy bear and toy tractor trailer marked the spot where Neallie was hit.
Neallie's grandmother, Caroline Chery, declined to talk with reporters gathered outside her home Monday and asked for privacy. Her comments to a television station differed from what detectives have found and were made before the sheriff's office described its investigation.
Chery told WPLG-Ch. 10 the family had returned from church and was preparing to celebrate another grandchild's birthday. Neallie may have followed relatives who were bringing food from cars into the house before he wandered into the street, she said.
