Texas police say a mother-of-3 ran over and killed her 3-year-old son while playing a game of “chicken” with her SUV.
Lexus Lashell Stagg, 26, initially told police she accidentally ran over her youngest son, Lord Renfro, while backing up.
After passing a sobriety test, police let her go, according to the Houston Police Department. The boy’s June 11 death was ruled an accident.
But according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Stagg was allegedly seen on surveillance video driving her SUV toward her three children and applying the brakes as they jumped out of the way in a game called “chicken”.
Multiple witnesses told police the youngest boy, Lord Renfro, didn’t get out of the way in time and he was struck and killed.
“She initially said, ‘I didn’t know he was there. And he just got under the wheel,'” Houston Police Department Spokesperson Jodi Silva tells PEOPLE. She added that police believe Stagg “intentionally [drove] forward with the intention [that] they would get out of the way.”
Stagg was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide on June 20. If convicted, she faces 10 years in prison.
“Every parent has an obligation to protect their children, even from themselves,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “Cars aren’t toys and playing chicken with your kids isn’t a game.”
Stagg was remorseful and cried during her court appearance on Friday, according to a video taken by ABC13.
“She’s distraught,” an attorney for Stagg said. A magistrate set Stagg’s bond at $1,500. KHOU 11 confirms she bonded out of jail to attend her son’s funeral that was scheduled for the next day.
Update: Staggs returned to court on Monday, June 24. A judge raised her bond to $25,000 and remanded her back into custody. Staggs wailed and screamed as she was led away (see 2nd video below).
If she posts bond she is not allowed to make contact with her 2 daughters.
