We have some truly tragic and awful news to report, as an Atlanta mother has been arrested after her 7-year-old son died after getting his head stuck in a car window while she was allegedly “passed out” in the driver’s seat. Kandice Grace, 32, is now facing charges of second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children following the death of her son, Mazi Simmons.
Police were called to an Atlanta home on April 6 just before 9:30 AM about a child who was “found unresponsive,” according to an arrest warrant. When investigators arrived, they found Mazi in the back seat of his mother’s car with his head caught in the window. The boy was “not alert, conscious, or breathing,” per a press release from the Atlanta Police Department, and he was sitting “beside two younger siblings”. Mazi was rushed to the hospital but was tragically pronounced dead by medical staff.
The situation is just devastating to read about. The arrest warrant alleges that Grace was “passed out in the driver’s seat” while Mazi was in the back seat and “got stuck in the back seat window”. This all happened while his two younger siblings were right there next to him, per People. This should be a parent’s worst nightmare, but the mom may be at fault.
A child died mere feet from his mother and siblings
A witness told police that Grace had stopped by his home the night before, after 10 PM, but allegedly didn’t want the children to come inside, so she left them in the car before leaving shortly after. The following morning, the witness alleged he saw Grace’s vehicle in the parking lot and “the 7-year-old’s head was hanging out of the window”. He started “banging on the car to wake up Ms. Grace”.
When investigators arrived at the scene, Grace was inside a neighbor’s home holding her youngest child. The warrant further alleges that when investigators tried to speak with her, “she kept passing out while sitting up and holding her child”. This led to a search warrant for her blood and urine, which later came back positive for both opioids and THC…