TRAGEDY AVOIDED: Man driving hay bailer spots 3-year-old in field
A working mother who fell asleep was given probation this week after her 3-year-old son wandered out of their house and was almost run over by a hay bailer.
The defendant, Christina Ann Hall, 25, entered a guilty plea to the charge of child neglect and was issued an 11-month, 29-day probationary sentence and must also attend parenting classes.
Her sentence comes after her 3-year-old son wandered away from their home in Dogwood Point. Hall told the court she had worked all day and had fallen asleep inside their home. That’s when the boy let himself out of the house and wandered into a field down the road.
It was some time later as Kelly Prater was cutting hay that he saw the child, narrowly seeing the toddler before running over him. Prater admitted had it not been for the child’s blonde hair he would have likely not seen the child before running him over.
Hall reportedly drove up beside the field looking for her son a short time later. General Sessions Judge Larry Ross noted everyone was fortunate the incident did not end in tragedy.