Accident location
DALLAS — Gerardo Moreno, 24, has been charged in the death of an 18-month-old child who was injured in a single-vehicle accident.
Late Monday afternoon, Moreno was charged with manslaughter and for leaving the scene of the wreck in the 3100 block of Webb Chapel Extension.
Dallas police said the victim, Yeneisy Maldonada, was not in a child safety seat. She was sitting in the front seat of the pickup truck in her mother's lap.
Yeneisy was crushed by the weight of her mother and an airbag that deployed Sunday when the vehicle swerved to avoid hitting another car and then ran into a utility pole.
It is an accident that could have been prevented, but police said the child's 17-year-old mother was visiting from Mexico. In that country, laws do not require that children be placed in restraint seats.
Officers said the driver is responsible for making sure everyone in the vehicle is properly restrained.
Moreno, who is not a U.S. citizen, reportedly jumped out of the truck and left the mother and child inside. He turned himself in late Sunday.
The mother will not be charged in the case because she was not driving.
