Inset left: Elizabeth Aguilar (Baton Rouge Police Department). Inset right: Nicholas Aguilar (GoFundMe). Background: The gas station where Nicholas was run over in Baton Rouge, La. (Google Maps).
A Louisiana woman is behind bars after her unrestrained toddler fell out of a moving truck and died after being run over in a parking lot, Pelican State law enforcement says.
Elizabeth Aguilar, 22, stands accused of one count each of negligent homicide, failure to use a child passenger restraint system, and lack of insurance and registration, according to a press release issued by the Baton Rouge Police Department.
The incident occurred during the late morning hours on Feb. 20, near the Amazon fulfillment center on Cortana Place in Baton Rouge and resulted in the death of 1-year-old Nicholas Aguilar, police said.
Around 11:20 a.m. on the day in question, the defendant was making a turn out of the parking lot of a Murphy USA gas station when Nicholas tumbled out of her Dodge Ram pickup truck, according to law enforcement.
The little boy was then run over by the truck's rear passenger-side tire, police said.
The child was rushed to a nearby hospital where he eventually died, according to law enforcement.
Additional investigation determined Nicholas was in the rear passenger seat at the time of the incident and that the vehicle's door opened when the defendant made the turn, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Baton Rouge ABC affiliate WBRZ.
Two adults were in the truck at the time, police previously told WBRZ. Investigators said there were no car seats in the truck and at least one other child was in the back seat, also unrestrained, with Nicholas.
The pickup truck had child locks on the doors, but they were not in use at the time, according to the police department.
In a GoFundMe, the Aguilar family is raising money for the boy's funeral.
"My sister is going through the unimaginable loss of her 1-year-old baby," the victim's aunt wrote. "Our family is heartbroken, and we are trying to support her in every way we can during this incredibly difficult time. The sudden loss has left us all in shock, and we want to give her baby a proper funeral and burial to honor his memory and say our goodbyes with love and dignity."
The incident was initially being investigated as a traffic crash, police said, in response to a question from local news media about the likelihood of criminal charges for the adults in the truck. In the weeks that followed, police filed criminal charges.
Aguilar was arrested on Tuesday, police said.
The investigation is said to be ongoing.
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