Mom allowed drunk 14-year-old son to drive car with little sister inside before he hit and killed a 67-year-old bicyclist

A Texas pistillate is headed to situation aft she handed her car keys implicit to her intoxicated 14-year-old lad who past struck and killed a 67-year-old bicyclist.

Erika Martinez-Ramirez was convicted Tuesday of endangering a kid and sentenced to 2 years successful prison, according to the McLennan County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors said the incidental occurred connected July 14, 2024, successful Bellmead, which is conscionable extracurricular of Waco. Around 1:30 a.m., Martinez-Ramirez gave her lad her keys and told him to instrumentality his 10-year-old sister to prime up immoderate apparel astatine a adjacent house.

The lad was driving erstwhile helium slammed into a bicyclist, identified by section CBS affiliate KWTX arsenic Dennis Welch. The lad past crashed into a house. Welch died astatine the scene. The 10-year-old miss suffered insignificant injuries.

According to prosecutors, it wasn't the archetypal clip the 14-year-old — who was excessively young to person a licence — was busted for driving. The archetypal occurred connected Dec. 12, 2023, erstwhile an serviceman stopped the boy, who was driving with respective different kids successful his mom's car. Officers cited Martinez-Ramirez for allowing her lad to drive.

Two weeks later, the lad was erstwhile again down the instrumentality erstwhile helium struck different car and fled the scene. Cops contacted Martinez-Ramirez and "repeated to her that allowing her lad to thrust was unacceptable," prosecutors said.

Authorities declined to supply details astir the 14-year-old's prosecution due to the fact that of his age. Prosecutors said they didn't complaint Martinez-Ramirez with manslaughter due to the fact that they didn't person grounds that showed she knew her lad was intoxicated astatine the clip of the crash. She was primitively facing a criminally negligent homicide complaint but they opted to prosecute her connected the endangering a kid number due to the fact that some charges transportation the aforesaid punishment and the endangering complaint is easier to prove, the territory lawyer said.

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The lawsuit was prosecuted by adjunct territory attorneys Michaelina Yearty and Duncan Widmann.

"Parents are seldom prosecuted for crimes committed by their children, but this mother's actions were truthful irresponsible and truthful predominant that some prosecution and a maximum condemnation were warranted," they said successful a statement.