Slaton Father Charged in Child's Death
By: Candace Hutchins
Updated: April 9, 2008
The Slaton man who ran over his 18-month-old child three weeks ago is now charged with her death. 18-month-old Shiann Garcia died from the injuries sustained when her father ran over her in the driveway of their home. He is now charged with intoxicated manslaughter.
Slaton police say 24-year-old Juan Garcia's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he ran over his daughter in their driveway on March 22nd. Police say he had been working on his car and was going to test it out to be sure it was running properly. Without noticing his daughter behind the car, he backed out of the driveway and ran over her.
Police say instead of calling 911, Garcia grabbed the child, put her in his car, and headed for a Lubbock hospital. On the way there he crashed into a car that failed to yield the right of way near 66th Street and the Slaton Highway. Garcia's car flipped, throwing the child and her uncle from the car. Baby Shiann was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
"The preliminary report that we got from the medical examiners office says the injuries that the child sustained here in slaton is in fact what lead to the death of the child", says Slaton Police Chief Royce Goodson, "when you are intoxicated you don't need to be driving a vehicle especially when there are children nearby. It's a very dangerous situation"
Lubbock Police are still investigating if the father will face any additional charges for the crash that happened on the way to the hospital.
