It was just a tragic accident, say family members of a Hall County man accused of running over and killing his nephew on Sunday.
Authorities have charged Joshua Saunders, 19, of Gainesville, with DUI and vehicular homicide after he ran over 2-year-old Landon Martin with a large Chevy vehicle and then fled the scene.
Saunders’ mother, Martha Saunders, told Channel 2 Action News the man would never intentionally hurt his nephew.
“He didn’t mean to hit that baby. He didn’t. He loved him,” she said.
Family members were gathered on the porch of a home in the 2400 block of Miller Drive on Sunday afternoon, while kids played nearby in the driveway, family members said. No one saw the toddler run behind his uncle’s truck, they told Channel 2.
“He was standing right there playing and Josh went to back up and Josh jumped out of the truck and started screaming Landon! Landon! And then he ran up the driveway and started calling 911,” Martha Saunders said.
The toddler was pronounced dead at Northeast Georgia Medical Center on Sunday.
Georgia State Patrol investigators told Channel 2 the boy was run over by one of the tires on a large Chevrolet Blazer. Saunders’ is also charged with leaving the scene of an accident because investigators didn’t believe his story about going to find the toddler’s father.
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