NC - Legend Jenkins, 7, walking home with his 10 yo brother, hit by a car & killed, parents charged with invol manslaughter, Gastonia, 27 May 2025

[DS2021]

Disregard last post

‘Just devastating’: 7-year-old boy hit and killed near Gastonia grocery store

Channel 9 learned that the boy’s big brother was right next to him when it happened.

www.wsoctv.com

The crash happened just before 6 p.m. near the Food Lion on Lyon Street. Police said the child was trying to cross the street with another child when he was hit by a Jeep Cherokee.

_____________________________________



Channel 9’s Dave Faherty learned that they were on the phone with their father when the accident happened.

“I heard my oldest son yell, ‘Legend no,’ so I hung up and ran. I just ran to find them,” Sameule said.

There is a crosswalk near Lyon Street, but we spotted several people crossing the four-lane road between the crosswalk.


There's no food lion on Lyon Street afaik, but there's one close by

 

[noZme]

Definitely puzzling. It’s not like he was a toddler left unattended. He was accompanied by his ten year old brother.

And how sad for the brother

 

[Cedars]

Definitely puzzling. It’s not like he was a toddler left unattended. He was accompanied by his ten year old brother.

And how sad for the brother

Perhaps that's the point...it's too much responsibility for a lazy parent to put on the "older" (but only age 10) brother. Perhaps the parents blamed the brother.

Of course, both kids could have been killed - they should at least have been instructed to cross at the cross walk.

JMO

 

[DS2021]

I will say, I google walked the route that google says is the most efficient, there's no reason why they would've had to cross that busy intersection to get home.

 

[LenaOdenthal]

I was dismayed to read the older child was on the phone as they walked. No, a ten year old is not responsible for a younger child's safety - but if allowed complete this (fairly normal) route, it should be on the basis that both children have been schooled in road safety, which includes using the cross walk but even more importantly, having your wits about you and looking both ways, even when the pedestrian crossing is in your favour.

I will say, I google walked the route that google says is the most efficient, there's no reason why they would've had to cross that busy intersection to get home.

I'm not sure where their home is (I can't access some of the articles from Europe). Where should they have crossed, or do you think they were trying to go somewhere else?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Even if the boys were allowed to go completely alone to the store and back, and they weren't specifically taught how to cross that street, even then I can't see these charges, such high bond, and not being able to attend the funeral.

Maybe it was too much to expect of the 10-year-old but that can be hindsight. At what age do we stop judging and call it a tragic accident? 11 and 8? 12 and 9? I mean come on.

 

[Cedars]

Even if the boys were allowed to go completely alone to the store and back, and they weren't specifically taught how to cross that street, even then I can't see these charges, such high bond, and not being able to attend the funeral.

Maybe it was too much to expect of the 10-year-old but that can be hindsight. At what age do we stop judging and call it a tragic accident? 11 and 8? 12 and 9? I mean come on.

I wouldn't feel that way if I were the one who'd hit and killed the 7 year old. "Just an accident, never mind, carry on".

 

[thelesis]

Am I the only one who was confused by the title and thought it was the parents who ran over Legend and they were being charged for that?

 

[dms]

Am I the only one who was confused by the title and thought it was the parents who ran over Legend and they were being charged for that?

I thought the same thing, though the title is technically correct. Maybe the inclusion of “neglect” before “manslaughter” would make it clearer

 

[tara83]

I have a real problem with the bond set in this case. We have had parents accused of murdering their children with a much lower amount.

 

[dms]

I wouldn't feel that way if I were the one who'd hit and killed the 7 year old. "Just an accident, never mind, carry on".

No one said carry on. Maybe the 10-year-old was a really responsible kid and the boys walked that route with their parents all the time. We don’t really know. We do know that the older boy was on the phone with his father during the walk, and tried to stop the younger one from dashing into traffic. Sometimes parents make bad choices. Sometimes you make good choices and awful things still happen. It’s really easy to say we would’ve done it differently.

On its face, at least, the punishment is extreme.

 

[Cedars]

Sometimes parents make bad choices. Sometimes you make good choices and awful things still happen. It’s really easy to say we would’ve done it differently.

On its face, at least, the punishment is extreme.

I think that was certainly true in the past, for eg my parents, who had a child die from a neglectful behaviour and just swept it under the rug.

However, I'm seeing a gradual change in prosecutions against parents eg: hot car deaths, shooting deaths with unsecured weapons, parents of a couple of school shooters, women who kill their young children...

I think the law is increasingly on the side of children's human rights to be kept alive by responsible parents, more so than in the past.

JMO

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I wouldn't feel that way if I were the one who'd hit and killed the 7 year old. "Just an accident, never mind, carry on".

This would have been very traumatic, and no one is going to "carry on."
But the question is, was a crime committed by the driver (seems not at this point) or parents? Should it be prosecuted? And if so, should they be treated this harshly?

Just trying to imagine what they are going through. And they are innocent until proven guilty. So I think they should be allowed to attend their child's funeral.

 

[PromotedPawn]

Thinking of this family today. I’m still waiting for this to make sense.

 

[LadyL]

mother's FB:

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

father's FB:

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[LadyL]

every picture I've seen of the kids shows them clean, dressed nicely, smiling

I did see a history of an assault charge for the father ... could be more, I didn't dig deeply

their fundraiser was deleted, presumably because they are charged

I'm not sure if this is in the best interests of the kids, they look so happy and their parents seem to adore them, they're grieving their brother and now without both parents?

and I do find it strange that the parents weren't allowed to go to the funeral as well ...

 

[IceIce9]

This is such a crazy situation. Obviously there is much more to the situation than has been reported, but I have been searching ever since I first heard about it and have t found anything.

Possibilities that I can think of think of that might result in this type of charges:

Previous incidents with children left unattended? (Although I don’t consider it to be unattended if an older sibling was supervising)

Previous CPS investigation

But in this case no evidence of any of the above.

The parents story not matching up with their statements, like being in a different place than they stated at the time of the incident

Definitely shaking my head about this one.

 

[IceIce9]

As far as the children being left “unsupervised” in the state where I live there was recently a report to CPS about a ten year old girl babysitting her four younger siblings while her single mom worked during the day. Probably no one would have known about it except the ten year old took her siblings to the neighborhood pool.

In this case it was determined that there is no state law regarding the minimum age for a child to be left home alone, or to be babysitting, but was up to parents or guardians to determine maturity and ability to be left home alone.

 

[IceIce9]

Another possibility could be outstanding warrants. JMO

I can see no reason why the father was arrested, since the children had been shopping with the mother?

 

[Cedars]

Another possibility could be outstanding warrants. JMO

I can see no reason why the father was arrested, since the children had been shopping with the mother?

Clearly there's some kind of evidence, likely from the 10 yr old, visit to the home, etc.