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Parents CHARGED for allowing son to walk home alone from store
Jun 3, 2025
A pair of North Carolina parents have been charged with manslaughter for allowing their seven-year-old son to walk home with his older brother, a decision judges say cost him his life.
Legend Jenkins was killed on Tuesday after darting out into traffic in Gastonia. He was walking home from the grocery store with his older brother.
The driver, an unidentified 76-year-old woman, stayed at the scene.
She has not been charged - but the boy's parents, Sameule and Jessica Jenkins, have.
Prosecutors say they are guilty of involuntary manslaughter and child neglect. The pair are now in jail, and were recently denied a request to attend the boy's funeral.
Authorities said the older brother tried to pull Legend back from the road, but was too late.
Summer Williams, a witness to the crash, told local outlet WSOC she tried to comfort the young boy as they waited for emergency responders.
'Just letting him know that somebody was there and he wasn't alone,' she told the outlet. 'Stay with us, sweetheart. You're going to be alright. Stay with us.''
'Even at night, I still see his face,' Williams added.
'The children were very young. They shouldn't have been crossing a busy intersection like that in the first place,' said Williams.
Legend was first rushed to a local hospital and later transferred to a children's facility in Charlotte.
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