Girl accidentally killed when mom backs car up

Eric Leake

Friday, April 1, 2005 | 11:17 a.m.

A mother accidentally backed over her 2-year-old daughter at their apartment complex Thursday afternoon, killing the child, Metro Police said.

Darcy Wykoff, 23, was backing out of a parking space at St. Croix Apartments, 6661 Silverstream Ave., near U.S. 95 and Rainbow Boulevard, about 1 p.m. when her daughter ran unnoticed behind the family's minivan, police said.

The 2-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

Metro Sgt. Tracy McDonald said it is unclear exactly how the girl got behind the car as police were unable to conduct a lengthy interview with the distraught parents.

"The mother believed that the 2-year-old was with the father inside the apartment. For reasons unkown at this point the 2-year-old was able to get out and ran towards the car," McDonald said.

He said an off-duty North Las Vegas Police officer tried to revive the girl.

Josette Hernandez was in her apartment when she heard Wykoff screaming, she said.

"I ran out there. When I looked to my right I saw what looked like a doll lying there," Hernandez said. "The dad was over the body and the mom was running back and forth screaming for somebody to help them."

Hernandez said the mother was distraught and kept telling the father, "You told me you'd take her."

Hernandez is also a mother of two children, and said the girl's death was traumatizing.

"I saw everything and I couldn't help," she said. "I was just out there for the last breath of the baby."

Neighbor Sandra Thebodeau, who also has two children, said she arrived to see the dead child being taken away and the parents overcome with grief.

"The mom and dad came out. He was holding a baby doll and they were crying," Thebodeau said.

She said the idea of losing a child and being the cause of that loss "would be a nightmare you'd never get over."

McDonald said police are not likely to file criminal charges against the mother because the accident happened on private property and there did not seem to be any contributing factors such as neglect or reckless driving.

"All the outward signs are that these folks were young, loving, caring," McDonald said.

"Once we're satisfied that a crime didn't occur there, we back off. We let the family deal with their tragedy," McDonald said.