• You must be logged in to see or use the Shoutbox. Besides, if you haven't registered, you really should. It's quick and it will make your life a little better. Trust me. So just register and make yourself at home with like-minded individuals who share either your morbid curiousity or sense of gallows humor.

Benighted

My brain hurts
full


Gates, N.Y. - Two children were seriously injured after a car struck them in a parking lot in Gates.

Gates Police Chief Jim VanBrederode said a father was pulling his children, ages 3 and 1, in a wagon when a car left the road and struck them. He said they were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital and are in critical condition.
[...]
[Witness on scene statement] "I saw the medics grab a young toddler and take him to the first ambulance. It was really hard to watch. The father was super hysterical," she said. "And about six or seven minutes later, there was a second toddler that was taken to the second ambulance, and they took them right away. They definitely were not moving."


Will update as and when names are released for search purposes. Mr. B. was actually on the scene, he lives nearby and was driving home. Apparently the woman jumped the curb, I know this parking lot and she had to have jumped it several feet, hit the kids in the wagon then backed up to try and drive away AND RAN OVER THE KIDS. You can see the wagon crushed under the car. Unofficially one of the LE who was directing traffic said they think she may have been texting.
 

Attachments

  • gates_parking_lot_wreck.jpg
    gates_parking_lot_wreck.jpg
    116.3 KB · Views: 1,059
Last edited by a moderator:
Unofficially one of the LE who was directing traffic said they think she may have been texting.
@Totemic posted a link to r/AITA about parents who bought their child a car and told her she would lose it if she was caught texting while driving. Well, she was and she did. The parent that posted was asking, "Am I The Asshole?" and the consensus seemed to be that the parent wasn't.

It was this very scenario that the posting parent was concerned about.

--Al
 
My husband texts me and drives or will FaceTime me while driving, with the kids in the car. Makes me so mad, he gets all mad because I will just hang up on him or not answer. He also gets mad that I can’t read texts or answer the phone while driving. Guess I’m just old, I’ve had minor wrecks while fully paying attention.
 
Update. Best news is the children are expected to survive. Turns out the perp wasn't texting, she had two unrestrained kids in the car and had turned round to yell at them. I have words for her and most of them contain 4 letters.

Gates Police Chief James VanBrederode said he believes two children who were seriously injured in an accident Thursday evening will survive.
[...]
Officers said Jamie McDonald was pulling his children, ages 2 and 10 months, in a wagon when a car left the road and struck them. The children were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital and were in critical condition.
Officers said the driver, 29-year-old Letoya Palmo, had three children in her car. Palmo's two sons - ages 5 and 7 - were not in car seats or wearing seatbelts in the backseat of the car; police said the boys were jumping up and down, and Palmo took her eyes off the road to address the two boys in the back seat. Palmo's 1-year-old daughter was in a car seat in the front passenger seat. When Palmo looked back at the road, police said the car started to drift and jumped the curb. Palmo swerved to avoid a pole and hit the red wagon carrying the 10-month-old and 2-year-old child.
[...]
The wagon and children went under the car and were dragged about 50 feet.
[...]
Palmo told police she believes she accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake after hitting the wagon.


Palmo, was charged with Reckless Driving, moved from a lane unsafely, an uninspected motor vehicle, and two tickets for an unrestrained child.

 
The driver accused of running over two young children in a parking lot on Lyell Avenue is facing new charges after police say she was taking a picture and video at the time of the accident.

Letoya Palmo, 29, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of felony assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. If convicted, she faces seven years in prison.
[...]
Gates Police say a forensic examination of Palmo's cellphone revealed she was taking a picture and video at the time of the accident. She allegedly was taking a video of a "For Rent" sign on the corner of Lyell Avenue and Rossmore Street.

According to the felony complaint obtained by News10NBC, Palmo allegedly hit the gas instead of the brake after hitting the wagon and subsequently admitted the brakes on the car were extremely bad and didn’t always work.


Mugshot at link. She doesn't look like the brightest crayon in the box.
 
20551

Two children critically injured when they were struck by a car in Gates last week are in stable condition.

That's according to family members of Lilly, 3, and Luke, who is 15-months-old. The two were struck by a car while their father was pulling them in a wagon last Thursday.

The children were hit and dragged 50 feet under the car before the vehicle stopped.

The children face several surgeries and a long recovery. Friends have set up a fundraiser to help the family cope with the costs.

Meanwhile, the driver who struck them is facing new criminal charges. On Tuesday, Gates Police said Letoya Palmo was using her cellphone at the time of the crash. She also reportedly admitted the vehicle's brakes are bad and don't always work. Police also said that the 2001 Toyota Camry she was driving was not registered and should have never been on the road.
1563478991549.png
Laturd
 
Jfc. Unrestrained kids gives me anxiety. My 7 year old, 5 year old and 9 month old are all in the same model of car seat. Just last week, in a moment of laziness, I told my mom the 5 year old could ride in my nieces backless booster in my moms SUV then immediately said “no no no. Never mind, I’ll install his car seat”.
The thought of unrestrained toddlers, faulty brakes, AND using a phone while driving is just... I cannot even comprehend that.
 
It's been two weeks since Luke and Lilly McDonald were struck by a vehicle, their lives upended in a split second.

The brother and sister, ages 15 months and 3, remain in the hospital, but their parents report that they are healing and improving each day.

The pair love to ride in their little red wagon. That's just what they were doing - being pulled by their dad - when they were run over by a car hat careened into a parking lot on Lyell Avenue in Gates.

Lilly suffered severe internal injuries and Luke received a serious head injury.


Earlier this week, Luke was moved to a private room and Lilly was taken off of a ventilator - signs of progress and encouragement.

Their parents, Jamie and Candace, told 13WHAM their children still have a long way to go.

"We are happy to say that, slowly but surely, they are healing and getting better each and every day," they said in a statement. "However, they both still have a very long road wit
20990
 
A grand jury has indicted the driver accused of running over two young children in a parking lot on Lyell Avenue while she was taking a picture and video at the time of the accident.

Letoya Palmo, 30, is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of reckless endangerment, and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
[...]
Palmo had initially been charged with reckless driving, failing to secure her children properly in car seats, and driving an uninspected car. She pleaded not guilty to those charges last month.

 
Letoya Palmo, the woman who admitted to accidentally hitting two children with her car on a sidewalk in Gates last summer, asked for forgiveness at her sentencing Tuesday.

She got it from the parents of the siblings she struck, along with a prison sentence of 2 1/2 years.
Palmo expressed remorse at the sentencing hearing.

"I ask for forgiveness. It was wrong to pick my phone up. I think about the kids every day. I have nightmares myself. I'm really sorry," she said.

"I really am remorseful. Maybe one day in life I can hug them when they are older. I'm sorry," she added.
The victims, siblings Luke and Lilly, continue their recoveries and are two of this year's Golisano Children's Hospital Miracle Kids.
There father, Jamie McDonald, was in the courtroom to witness Palmo's sentencing. He says he forgives Palmo, but wishes her punishment was stiffer.
"I think she should have gotten more time in prison," he said outside of the courtroom. He says the ordeal has helped him never take a moment for granted.

"I consider myself a better father than I was before all of this. It's brought me closer to my kids. I cherish every moment: every laugh, every smile," he said.
Both parents agree that they're happy this part of the tragedy is over. They hope Palmo learns from her mistake.

"She's a mom. She's a mom, too," said Candace McMahon, the mother of the children. "She knows the pain. I'm sure she relives this and goes through the same hurt we go through."
 
Back
Top