MIAMI – A Miami woman was arrested Monday after she accidentally struck her own 12-year-old son with her vehicle while trying to aim for a boy who was fighting him, authorities said.
The incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. in the area of Northwest Fifth Avenue and 77th Street.
According to the suspect’s arrest report, Quantavia Samuel told police that she had sent her son to a nearby friend’s house to retrieve his younger brother’s backpack, but her son called her, saying he was threatened with guns and believed he would be “jumped” – slang for being attacked by more than one person.
Miami police said Samuel, 33, showed up as her son was fighting another boy and accidentally struck her own son with her Toyota RAV-4 while trying to aim for the other kid.
Police said she then helped her son into her SUV and the two began following two boys who had run off.
According to the report, Samuel parked her vehicle outside one kid’s home and called police.
Samuel’s son told officers that he had been jumped by two boys and the eldest child who jumped him pulled out a gun during the fight.
Police said the victim complained about leg and hip pain and was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s emergency room but is expected to be OK.
“When asked how she managed to strike her own son with the vehicle, the defendant stated, ‘I was trying to get them off my son,’” the report stated.
According to the report, one of the boys involved in the fight told officers that he was in the area to pick up his younger brother from school when he saw Samuel’s son and the two started yelling obscenities at each other.
The boy claimed that Samuel’s son threatened to pull out a gun, which prompted him to run home and get his cousin.
Police said the boy claimed he and Samuel’s son then agreed to fight one on one, and he won the fight, taunting Samuel’s son and offering him a rematch.
According to the report, the two then began to fight again as the boy’s cousin “officiated the fight.”
Police said the boy said it was during the second fight that he spotted the SUV heading toward them.
According to the report, the boy’s cousin provided the same statements to officers.
Police said they searched the area for surveillance cameras but could not find any.
Parents whose children attend Jesse J. McCrary, Jr. Elementary School in Miami told Local 10 News that their concerns remain high after hearing about the incident.
“She should be prosecuted for that,” said parent Regina Jones.
“You got to think before you react,” said parent Andre Farrow. “I understand the situation is going like it’s going but if you take a little moment to think, she could’ve gotten out of the car and diffused the situation versus using a car.”
Samuel was ultimately arrested on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
As of Tuesday morning, she was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in lieu of a $6,000 bond.