A SEVEN-year-old girl died after falling from a moving SUV on a highway over the Fourth of July weekend.
The girl was hit by multiple vehicles in what a traffic police officer called the most tragic accident he has seen in 14 years.
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According to California Highway Patrol, Veronda Gladney and her boyfriend Michael Branch were driving north on Highway 5 in Santa Clarita on July 2.
At around 3 a.m., Gladney’s seven-year-old daughter fell from the back of their SUV, police said.
CHP officer Joshua Greengard said the girl was not in a child seat when she fell from the broken rear window.
†[The girl] was way in the back of the 1999 Lincoln Navigator,” Greengard said.
“There were witnesses who said she was either hanging out or playing in the back part — the very, very back part of it.
“That window was already broken and it looks like she fell from the vehicle and then died tragically.”
The young girl was hit by several vehicles at highway speeds, with injuries resulting in her death.
While speaking with ABC7 Eyewitness NewsGreengard said he had never seen a crash like this in his 14 years on the highway patrol.
“I’ve been through countless tragedies in my time, but this one is very unfortunate,” he said.
“It’s very sad.”
Greengard said witnesses were also very upset, especially the girl’s 28-year-old mother.
“I know from other agents that she was also distraught,” the CHP agent said.
Gladney and Branch were arrested for… endanger childABC7 reported, though the formal charges were yet to be filed Wednesday.
It was unclear Thursday whether either had legal representation.
Branch was released by a judge on his own admission, the local news station reported.
Anyone with information about the accident was asked to contact the Newhall Area Office of California Highway Patrol at 661-600-1600.
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