Photo: Boykins Family
A 12-year-old boy was killed in a car crash after Georgia state troopers performed the PIT maneuver to stop the car he was riding in.
According to 11 Alive News, Leden Boykins was the passenger of a vehicle driven by a neighbor, Charles Moore. Leden had gotten permission from his grandmother to earn some money while he was in town from Michigan for a family member’s funeral. Leden accompanied Moore and Moore’s 14-year-old son to clean parking lots at night and was reportedly on the way home at the time of the fatal crash.
“He said, ‘Granny, I’m on my way, I’m almost home.’ And he didn’t come…” Leden’s grandmother, Patricia Williams, told the outlet.
Georgia State Troopers pulled Moore over for speeding, and say he sped off after failing to produce a driver’s license during the stop.
Police chased him for three and half miles along a highway before performing a PIT maneuver to stop the car.
Moore’s vehicle flipped over, killing Leden. Moore and his son survived the crash. Moore is currently in custody, facing charges.
According to the report, Moore’s wife told Leden’s parents, Toni and Anthony Boykins, that Moore had his 14-year-old son call 911 while troopers pulled the car over, because he was frightened by the police. Moore’s wife said Moore wanted a supervisor at the scene and took off while the 911 operator was still on the line.
Anthony said regardless of Moore’s actions and reactions to the police, the officers should have seen that there were two children in the car.
“What I do know is, when you see those kids, your decision-making process is supposed to kick in,” Leden’s father said. “But couldn’t they put a roadblock up and protect those kids? They couldn’t figure out any other way than to flip that car over?”
Leden’s parents said they have not been contacted by any law enforcement agent to notify them that their son was killed.
“We’re trying to understand,” Anthony said, “who identified the body, and why was the body released to perform an autopsy without communicating with the parents.”
Paulding County Coroner Lindsey Eberhart Fuller told the news outlet that her office spoke with the family several times over the weekend to inform them of Leden’s death and location of his body.
Leden was in the 7th grade and would have turned 12 on September 28.
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