5-year-old boy Dies in Grandmother’s Lap

October 16, 2008

Sacramento, CA - A 5-year-old boy died while sitting on his grandmother's lap after she crashed their car in Antelope, north of Sacramento last Tuesday.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Alex Martinez was not in a child seat as obliged by law and died when the air bags of the car deployed.

Martinez's grandmother, Joni Kelley, 52, was not wearing any seat belt and was driving on a suspended license, CHP Officer Lizz Dutton said.

Dutton said that Kelley was parking her 1996 Toyota Camry outside her home when she stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake, traveling 40 feet into the wall of an empty home a number of driveways away, critically injuring Kelley.

Authorities said that they are still unaware of why Kelley accelerated the car and why Martinez was sitting on her lap.