For the first time in the Washington State history, a mom is being charged with vehicular homicide in connection with the death of her infant child who was improperly secured in a car seat.

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Andrew Kim Law Firm, PLLC | Washington Legal News

Washington Mom Charged With Child’s Car Seat Death


Posted on Feb 27, 2009

According to the Seattle Times, a Spokane, Washington mother has been charged with vehicular homicide in the death of her infant daughter in March of 2006. The baby girl who died in the accident was in an improperly installed car seat at the time of the crash, which police say led directly to her death.

The three car accident occurred on March 22, 2006, when Eileen Jensen, 24, of Post Falls, blacked out while driving, hitting a stopped minivan in front of her as well as another car. All three of her daughters were improperly restrained in the car, including her infant daughter Chloe who was in the front seat of the car in a rear-facing child seat balanced on textbooks. The impact of the airbag on the child caused severe brain injuries to the baby, who died of complications from the accident ten months later.

Jensen told Spokane Police that she had ridden with her baby in the front seat before, and that she did not properly install the seat since she was not traveling far. She has also said that she believes the accident was due to sleep deprivation.

Alan Kom, the director of Safe Kids USA, told the Seattle Times that putting a child that close to a side-impact air bag can be deadly - even worse than the impact of the crash itself. After a large campaign to educate mothers about child seat safety in the mid-90s, the accidents are now rare. Jensen, however, seemed unaware that her child should have been lawfully located in the back seat, and securely fastened in her car seat.

Never before has a parent been convicted of vehicular homicide because of an improperly installed car seat in Washington State - and some believe that the loss of her child is punishment enough. Others, however, including Spokane Police, believe that she was negligent in her treatment of her children, and obeying the laws regarding child car safety would have saved her daughter's life.

"The car seat itself was installed on top of text books that were sitting on the passenger seat of the car, the car seat itself wasn't even sitting on the seat, it was propped up on textbooks," Officer Teresa Fuller told KXLY.com.

Jensen has not commented on the case.

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Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone: (425) 289-1990
Fax: (425) 289-1991
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Tacoma, WA 98409
Phone: (253) 682-2000
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