ST. LOUIS — A driver who police said caused a crash that pinned a 9-year-old boy between two cars was charged Monday afternoon.
Kevin Johnson, 50, was charged by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office with one count each of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree assault, armed criminal action and leaving the scene of an accident.
He is in custody and being held without bond.
Antanette Jackson said her son Codi Walker remained in the hospital on life support as of Tuesday. The 9-year-old has a twin brother and is in the third grade.
According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, officers responded at about 11 a.m. Sunday to North Broadway and Harlan Avenue, near Hickey Park, where the boy was hit and pinned between two cars.
Police said Codi was grabbing toys out of the trunk of the car—which was legally parked along the road—when the crash occurred.
Preliminary investigation found that the driver of a 2018 Nissan Titan had struck the 9-year-old at high speed, pinning him between the cars. The driver then got out and ran from the scene but later turned himself in.
The boy was alert and breathing when first responders arrived, according to a brief statement from St. Louis police.
Dispatch logs showed it took about 30 minutes for first responders to free the boy from the crash at North Broadway Street and Harlan Avenue.
St. Louis Fire Department Capt. Garon Mosby said the child was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Police later reported he went through surgery Sunday afternoon.
Two other patients, both adults, were treated at the scene but declined to be taken to a hospital.
According to court records, Johnson has a lengthy criminal history, including several drug-related convictions and multiple arrests.
A neighbor who lives across from the park heard the crash happen and called 911.
"I was in my room, and I heard like a big boom. And I'm like, 'Something had to have happened.' I just heard a lady saying, 'Can somebody hear me please, can somebody help me call the police?'" neighbor Nikki Tanner said.
She said everyone nearby jumped in to help.
"The community was trying to help get the baby from being stuck and struggling between the cars, and it just kind of broke me down," Tanner said. "I start crying as a mother seeing that happen. I was just like I pray he pulls through and gets through everything."
Tanner said she sees this family at the park all the time.
"This mom, she loves her kids. She is always with her kids. Her kids are always by her side that's the only thing I see. And it's sad because I never take my kids to this park because I'd be kind of scared of the same thing. After all, everybody speeds down Broadway and don't have any sympathy … don't stop at these lights and none of that," Tanner said.
Trailnet policy catalyst Charles Bryson said Broadway is one of the most dangerous streets in the city because it has very few stoplights and at the crash location, in particular, there’s no crosswalk.
"There's really no safe way to get across for several reasons. Number one, you don't see the lighting that would indicate when somebody is supposed to cross as a pedestrian. Two, you see while it's not wide, it's very fast. And there are no traffic calming measures that are in place to reduce the speed of the vehicles," Bryson said.
Bryson hopes several city measures can change this, including speed or red light cameras that the Board of Aldermen recently approved and a mobility plan Mayor Tishaura Jones signed off on.
"We hope that mobility plan, first and foremost, focuses on pedestrians. Secondly, it focuses on bicyclists, and third is vehicles. Vehicles will always be able to get around, but it's pedestrians and bicyclists that have a greater chance of being hurt and or killed," Bryson said.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help with Codi's medical bills and to replace the family's totaled van.
