Ailahni Martinez: 3-year-old left alone by driver behind truck's wheel hits and kills 2-year-old girl
WOODLAND. CALIFORNIA: After being abandoned in a running pickup truck, a 3-year-old girl climbed behind the wheel, and the vehicle collided with a 2-year-old girl, killing her, according to the police.
Just before 4 pm on Saturday, March 16, Sandro Sanchez said his only daughter Ailahni Sanchez Martinez was sitting by herself at a table at her family's taco stand in the Woodland, a suburb of Sacramento, when the Dodge pickup truck crashed into her.
Accident occurred when owner left truck at gas pump
Sanchez told CBS Sacramento, "I just hear screaming all of a sudden. I ran, opened the door to the truck, I pulled the brake, thought I could stop it, but it was too late already.”
The father remembered that the terrifying ordeal ended in "less than a minute." “Everything happened and she was gone.” The cherub-looking after being brought to a nearby hospital, Ailahni passed away from her wounds.
According to her parents, she would have turned three the following month. Now, instead of a birthday celebration, they are organizing her burial, as reported by KCRA.
As per the press release from the Woodland Police Department, investigators have since concluded that the owner left the truck in drive at a gas pump and went into the gas station store.
The three-year-old child of the owner was buckled up in a car seat in the back and left unsupervised.
“While [the father was] inside the store, the three-year-old got out of their car seat and got into the driver’s seat,” police said. “The truck began moving forward and it collided with a two-year-old child who was near a taco stand on the edge of the lot.”
No one has been detained or accused
According to police, all parties involved in the incident have cooperated with them, and no one has been detained or accused as of yet.
With his daughter's framed photo in his hands, Sanchez sat at the scene of the accident, growing a makeshift memorial, and argued that leaving a toddler alone inside a running car should not be considered an accident.
He remarked, “I want justice for my little girl, because they let the guy just go free.”
In order to "ensure a thorough investigation" into the toddler's death, police promised to gather statements, examine video surveillance, and analyze the evidence.
After reviewing the results of the investigation, the Yolo County District Attorney's Office will determine whether to prosecute the truck owner. Ailahni's family said that the little child had only recently started to speak.
About her, her mother Rosa Martinez said, "She was always happy, she loved to dance and brought joy to the family." The two-year-old survives, as do her parents and two older brothers, ages six and seven.
