Minden child dead, Mansfield child hurt in traffic accidents

A child in Minden is dead and another in Mansfield is injured in separate accidents in less than 24 hours.This morning at 6:45 a.m., a 5-year-old Mansfield child was waiting with others for the bus in the 200 block of Lake Road when he ran into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The child, who was not identified, was treated at the scene then transported by DeSoto EMS to University Health in Shreveport, Police Chief Gary Hobbs said.

The child suffered a broken rib, bruised lung and kidney, lacerated liver and multiple cuts and abrasions; however, no surgery was required. He is expected to make a full recovery, Hobbs said later today.

Perry McDaniel, the driver of the vehicle that struck the child, was not cited. He told police the child and the other children ran across the road then immediately turned around and ran back across the two-lane highway. McDaniel was unavailable to avoid the accident, and his statement was backed by a witness in a vehicle who was behind him, Hobbs said.
Likewise, no charges will be filed against the Minden man who accidentally ran over and killed 3-year-old girl Monday as he was leaving his residence. The child, Corieyona Ware, of Shreveport, was pronounced dead at the scene, Minden Police Chief Steve Cropper said.Police were alerted to the accident around 11:30 a.m. through a 911 call at the corner of Morrow Street and Bayou Avenue. Officers found a blood trail from the street to the driveway and into the house, reflecting the efforts of the child’s babysitter to render aid prior to the arrival of EMTs.

Corieyona was under the care of a babysitter who lived at the residence along with the unidentified driver and his girlfriend, the homeowner. The driver, who works at Fibrebond, took a friend with him to the house Monday for lunch.
As he was leaving, his girlfriend and her daughter, the babysitter, followed him out to look at a new truck he had purchased. The truck sits higher than regular pickups and has wide rims, explained Cropper, making it difficult to see around it.

Officers speculate the adults were unaware Corieyona followed her babysitter outside. The driver later told officers he heard a neighbor yell as he pulled out of the driveway then felt a bump and immediately stopped. He initially thought he ran over an animal, Cropper said.

The driver was not impaired at the time of the accident. “At this time we don’t anticipate criminal charges. We feel like it was a terrible, terrible accident,” he added.