CENTERLINE — A woman crashed her SUV into the bedroom of a Michigan home where 9-year-old and 22-month-old siblings were sleeping, Michigan officials say.
“Me and my fiancé heard a big bang, and we both jumped up and were like, ‘Oh my God, the kids,’” Rachael Wright, the mother of the girls, told WXYZ of the Oct. 13 incident in Center Line.
She discovered her 9-year-old daughter had been struck by the SUV, causing “serious bodily injuries,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said. The girl’s 22-month-old sister was unharmed.
The oldest sibling, identified by WXYZ as Laila Breitshtrus, was discovered under debris in the home’s yard after the impact caused her to fly out of her bed, the station reported.
Laila suffered three spinal injuries, a GoFundMe said. She also broke her nose and lacerated her liver.
“We are grateful that she is alive, but her recovery journey is far from over,” Wright’s sister said in the GoFundMe.
The prosecutor said 20-year-old Caris Adell Wade was “willfully, wantonly, and recklessly driving her vehicle” before crashing into the home.
Wade fled on foot but was taken into custody by officers in Warren, according to Lucido. Toxicology results were administered to determine if she was under the influence.
She was charged with reckless driving causing serious impairment of a body function and failure to stop at a scene of accident resulting in serious impairment or death, the prosecutor said. Additional charges are possible.
“Who even thinks about someone driving their car through their house? It just doesn’t happen,” Center Line Public Safety Director Paul Myszenski told WJBK. “So, this comes way out of left field, and there’s absolutely no way you could do anything to prevent this.”
Wright said in a Facebook post she is amazed by her daughter’s strength, calling the incident “every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Laila told WJBK she looks “better than (she) did before” and plans on beginning physical therapy soon.
Center Line is a northern suburb of Detroit.
By MIKE STUNSON/Lexington Herald-Leader
Mike Stunson covers real-time news for McClatchy. He is a 2011 Western Kentucky University graduate who has previously worked at the Paducah Sun and Madisonville Messenger as a sports reporter and the Lexington Herald-Leader as a breaking news reporter.
