A Surry County woman has been arrested and charged in the March 30 death of a 5-year-old who was killed when the utility vehicle he was driving flipped over on him.
Olivia Dollyhigh Billings, 36, of 1002 Red Brush Road, Mount Airy, was arrested Monday and charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse.
The charges stem from a March 30 incident at her house, when a child Billings was babysitting was left without supervision while driving the vehicle, according to the Surry County Sheriff’s Office.
John Shelton, Surry County Emergency Services coordinator and medical examiner, said the day of the incident that he rushed to the home as soon as the call came in, but it was too late.
“He was operating it himself,” Shelton said of the child and the utility vehicle. The vehicle spun around, then flipped, pinning the boy. Shelton said by the time he arrived, people on the scene had moved the vehicle off of the victim, but the child was dead.
Shelton said at that time there was no one in the vehicle with the boy at the time of the incident, although it wasn’t clear if other children or adults were in the backyard with him when the wreck occurred. Shelton said adults on the scene did say they’d warned the child to slow down when he was driving the vehicle earlier in the day. The boy’s mother was at work at the time of the incident. Authorities have not released the child’s name.
In announcing the arrest Tuesday morning, Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt said the Surry County Department of Social Services requested his office conduct a criminal investigation into the incident. That probe resulted in Monday’s charges.
Billings was arrested on Monday and placed under a $60,000 secured bond, with a July 8 court date.
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Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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