A Deerfield Beach family is mourning the loss of a 1-year-old boy who died Monday morning after being struck by a car the day before outside of his grandmother's home.
Family said Neallie Saxon III died at Broward Health North Hospital after he was hit Sunday afternoon shortly before 5 p.m. outside the home off N.W. 4th Place. Detectives believe the child was playing with others outside the home as several ran into the street.
The driver of the 2007 Hyundai SUV, who police say was traveling the speed limit and possibly did not see the child due to his size, hit Saxon and came to a stop at the next stop sign. Officers say she may have been distracted by children running through the street.
Jasmine Smith, the boy's mother, ran over to her son after he was struck.
"They just said my baby got hit by a car... I ran outside and he was laying there in so much blood, lifeless," she said. "I picked him up and called to him saying mommy is with him, 'come back to me please, come back to me.'"
The driver was dragged from her car and beaten by several people before being treated at an area hospital for fractures to her face and head.
Police are investigating both the crash and the battery, but have not released information as possible charges in either case.
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"I'm angry. Everyone is concerned about her, that she got beat up, but what about my boy. You hit my baby, left and now my baby is dead," Smith added. "Hell yes, I'm upset. You claim you didn't see or didn't know – you knew."
Neighbors witnessed the assault in progress.
"They were hitting her, pulling her, hitting her and violently trying to restrain her, but I don't think she was trying to leave," Anthony Clay said.
"She came over the white line, stopped and someone grabbed her out of the car," Clifton Brunson said. "She was fighting back: 'No I didn't mean to,' screaming 'I wouldn't do that to a child.'"
Neallie's second birthday would have been on Dec. 15.
