Clayton, MO : A 3-year-old Ferguson boy and his 2-year-old sister killed in a two-vehicle crash at Hanley Road On Monday, August 15th, 2016

A 3-year-old Ferguson boy whose first day of preschool was Monday died hours later in a two-vehicle crash that also killed his 2-year-old sister.

They were riding with their mother when her car was struck by an SUV on Hanley Road, west of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Police are trying to sort out who was at fault.

Kameron Johnson, 3, and Kylee Johnson, 2, were killed in the crash. They lived in the 1200 block of Chambers Road in Ferguson.

A witness who tried to help after the crash said the car the children were riding in was ripped apart by the force of the crash and the children were ejected. The mother of the children, who was driving, said the two were

buckled in, but weren’t in child-safety seats.

Their mother, Taidria Anderson, is 21. Police have not identified the 19-year-old man who was driving the SUV. The St. Louis County Police Department’s Bureau of Crimes Against Persons is investigating the crash.

The two vehicles collided before 9 p.m. Monday at North Hanley Road and University Place Drive, near the North Hanley MetroLink stop.

Police say the SUV was heading north on Hanley, in the far right lane. It was approaching the intersection with University Place Drive, near the UMSL campus, when it struck the sedan carrying the two children, police say.

Police say the children’s mother tried to make a left turn onto University Place Drive when the SUV struck the rear passenger side of her car.

Anderson sobbed in an interview Tuesday as she mourned her children and tried to recall details of the crash. She suffered knee and elbow injuries and cuts to her face.

Anderson said she was on her way to the MetroLink station to pick up the children’s father, Karon Johnson. She said she had put her children in seat belts, not child-safety seats, because “we just live down the street” and she

thought the ride would be so short to the MetroLink stop.

“I let Kam ride in the front seat,” she said through tears.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommendations for children riding in car seats depend on age and on size, but say children should travel in child safety seats for the first four to seven years before graduating

to booster seats. Missouri law requires children younger than 4 years old or under 40 pounds to be in a child-safety seat.

Anderson said she wasn’t clear about what happened in the crash. “I was already turning when I saw the light turn yellow,” Anderson said.

Relatives say Anderson’s children were everything to her and she doted on them and worked hard to provide for them. Kameron started his first day of preschool Monday.

”He was a real nice boy,” his father, Karon Johnson, said.

Anderson said of Kylee, who just turned 2: “She was funny and smart. They were both smart kids.”

Source :
Two toddlers die in crash near UMSL in north St. Louis County