CENTRAL, La. — A Louisiana mother is facing a host of charges after she lost control of her SUV late Sunday and flipped the vehicle, injuring herself and her 11 children.
All 12 occupants of the vehicle are expected to survive, but at least one of the children – who was ejected from the SUV – had to be airlifted to an area hospital, WBRZ reported.
Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran told The Advocate that 34-year-old Leticia Brothers of Baton Rouge was issued a summons in the hospital where she was taken after the crash.
“We’re lucky there wasn’t a fatality of a child,” he said.
The charges include, but are not limited to, careless operation and 11 counts of cruelty to juveniles, the newspaper reported.
Police also confirmed after the crash that Brothers was driving with a suspended license and no insurance, WBRZ reported.
According to the TV station, the children range in age from 4 to 16, and authorities believe none of the vehicle’s occupants was wearing a seat belt.
“Two of the children were sitting in front, one was in the passenger seat behind the driver, four were in the next seat and four were in the hatchback, which didn’t have a window, just plastic,” Corcoran told The Advocate.
According to prior reports, Brothers was charged with cruelty to juveniles, domestic abuse, criminal neglect of family and encouragement of child delinquency in 2015. In that case, state officials removed her nine children at that time from her home after they were found with scarce food and no beds, the newspaper reported.
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