Background: The Haile Detention Center in Canyon County, Idaho (Google Maps). Inset: Skylar Keeth (Nampa Police Department).
A woman in Idaho is accused of driving a pickup truck while drunk with three children and a man in the back before she accelerated and sent the man flying out.
Skylar Keeth, 25, has been charged with aggravated DUI and three counts of injury to a child in connection with the death of 46-year-old Miguel Martinez, the Nampa Police Department announced on Tuesday. The law enforcement agency noted that additional charges are pending.
On Saturday, Keeth was driving a Toyota Tundra pickup truck in Nampa, Idaho, a city outside Boise. Martinez was riding in the back, along with three children, police said.
As Keeth drove, one of the people in the bed of the pickup dropped something, according to the police department. "They attempted to alert the driver, but the vehicle accelerated instead of slowing, and as a result, Martinez fell from the vehicle."
The police department reported receiving several 911 calls "reporting a man had fallen from the back of a moving pick-up and was injured in the roadway." Responding officers found Martinez "non-responsive," but when they started CPR, they felt a pulse.
Paramedics continued lifesaving measures, and Martinez was brought to an area hospital. It was there that he died.
Authorities did not state the nature of the relationship between Keeth, Martinez, and the children.
Investigators determined that Keeth had been drinking alcohol prior to Martinez falling from the vehicle, according to Nampa Police Corporal Jeffrey Stark.
"This needless death is the result of careless actions and driving under the influence of alcohol," he said. "There is no excuse for drunk driving. The consequences of this crash will last a lifetime for those involved, including three young kids, who were thankfully not physically harmed. Please drive sober!"