2-Year-Old Escaped Home and Was Killed by Car on Busy Road, as Caretaker Is Charged

Photo: GoFundMe

The boy was pronounced dead at the scene and the drivers don’t face charges.

Instead, police have charged Michael Montgomery, 73, with a single count of child abuse homicide.

Montgomery told investigators he’d fallen asleep while watching the boy,reports FOX 13.

Zayden exited the residence through an unlocked doggie door.

Zayden and his mother were living with Montgomery in his Grantsville home at the time of the tragic incident.

Zayden’s mother had allegedly asked Montgomery to watch her son so that she could go smoke a cigarette outside.

Prosecutors said Zayden called Montgomery “Grandpa,” but that the defendant and victim are in not related.

“It’s awful that this child had loved ones,” said Robert Clegg, Deputy Tooele County Attorney. “It’s awful that their negligence caused this child’s death.”

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FOX 13 reports that police had been called to Montgomery’s home on three previous occasionsbecause of Zayden’s escapes.

In September of last year, a deputy spoke to a driver who had found the boy walking in the middle of the same road. Montgomery told police he was using his computer and hadn’t noticed the boy had left,according to ABC.

A month later, the boy was again spotted walking alone in the road.

Then, on Dec. 26, 2018, people called 911 after seeing Zayden in the same road, wearing only a diaper. Several drivers nearly ran over the child.

It was unclear if Montgomery had entered a plea to the charge he faces. Information on his lawyer was also unavailable.

source: people.com