She drove into a boy and sped away 'very scared,' Texas cops say. He had to crawl home
Caden Walsh said he was walking home from elementary school in February when a car jumped the sidewalk and crashed into him.
The driver of the car then sped away, police allege, and the accident shoved the boy into a tree. Blood oozing from a gash in his leg, Walsh crawled home until an unidentified passerby noticed the 10-year-old on the ground and helped him get back to his house in Austin, Texas.
His stepfather, Jay Brady, talked about the moment he saw the young boy return from school that Friday afternoon.
“He’s down at the bottom of the stairs, his leg is just covered in blood,” he said. “He probably has a ball-peen hammer sized chunk of his leg missing, he’s just screaming blood-curdling screams.”
Police allege that 17-year-old Nicole Helen Miller confessed to driving into Walsh with her red Jeep and then fleeing the scene. The teenager told officers that she knew she crashed into something, KXAN reported, but brushed it off as roadkill or a small dog.
Miller told police “that she saw something tan moving around along the side of the road as she drove away” — but didn’t check on what it was because she felt “very scared,” according to KXAN. She’s accused of telling her dad, but not 911, about what happened.
The high schooler allegedly said she knew nothing about the crash when officers first interviewed her on March 21, The Austin American-Statesman reported. But officers alleged Miller confessed after they said they had information linking her to the crime.
Walsh told police that a red SUV with tinted windows crashed into him, Fox7 reported. The boy’s parents rushed him to the hospital, where he received 10 stitches in his leg.
His mother, Heather Brady, said that her son’s leg was “bleeding profusely” but not broken. The injuries could have been much worse, but the mom said that she’s still angry.
“It was a kid. When they left my son, for all they know he could have been dying and they just left him there without any concern,” she told Fox7. “As a parent, that’s the worst thing.”
Miller, who said she wanted to apologize to Walsh’s family, was arrested and charged with third-degree felony failure to stop and render aid, according to KXAN. She was released from jail with a $10,000 bond.
Brady told KXAN that she feels “relieved” after Miller’s arrest.
“It gives us some kind of closure and knowing that person,” Brady said. “She’s gonna have to pay for what she’s done.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 12:38 PM with the headline "She drove into a boy and sped away 'very scared,' Texas cops say. He had to crawl home."