Mom demands justice for 6-year-old killed by man riding ATV at the park on Mother's Day weekend
BEAUMONT, Texas - A mother whose 6-year-old son was killed in May 2021 wants justice.
The family was playing at a park on Mother’s Day weekend when the 6-year-old was run over and killed by a man riding an ATV. She says the man still hasn’t been charged with the 6-year-old’s death.
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"I am so, so heartbroken," cries Taylor Osborn.
It was the day before Mother’s Day when she and her three sons enjoyed a day of soccer, swimming in the river, and crawfish.
"I have a few videos of them playing in the water and Carter loves crawfish," Osborn said. "That was the last thing he ate when we went out to eat".
Then the family went to Tyrrell Park in Beaumont after hearing a family-friendly event was being held and as the 6-year-old played badminton in the grass with his two brothers. when suddenly a man on an ATV slammed right into Carter, killing him.
"I couldn’t do anything but sit there in that grass and hold him and scream because I know CPR but CPR couldn’t have saved my baby," Osborn said. "Injuries to his face and head were so severe. I knew he was gone".
The park had signs saying no ATVs allowed and Osborn says the man driving the 4-wheeler ran away after running over her 6-year-old.
"You knew you hit my child and you fled. You fled and you never came back," Osborn said. "You never asked was he ok? You never even looked back. You need go somewhere and you need to never come home ever again, ever again".
Beaumont Police caught the man who killed 6-year-old Carter. He was still there in the park but the department says no field sobriety or toxicology tests were done and more than two months later the man still hasn’t been charged with the 6-year-old’s death.
"He will always be a Grim Reaper that rode in," Osborn said. "It might not have been a black horse but you and your ATV rode in and snatched my son’s soul and I never got to see him again".
The man who was riding the ATV has several felonies on his record and has served time in prison previously.
Beaumont Police has submitted a charge of Criminally Negligent Homicide to the DA’s Office for consideration, which has a maximum punishment of 2 years in prison. Carter’s mom, however, says that isn’t nearly long enough.
The Jefferson County DA’s Office says they are preparing to submit the case to a grand jury, which can consider the man's criminal history and the grand jury could decide on a higher charge.
Carter’s mom meanwhile, has this message for the man who killed her son:
"Unless they can turn the ashes on my fireplace back into my child I will never get justice," she said. "Even so, I’m demanding the fact that you serve the rest of your natural born human life behind bars for what you’ve done.
"It’s truly the end of days when you can’t even take your family to a park the day before Mother’s Day and play safely," she continued. "You have to know that’s not normal, this isn’t normal. These aren’t normal times. Where is the outrage to get justice for my son? He was just a little boy. His little life mattered."