One child dies after parking lot incident
A man accused of driving a car that struck two sisters and their three small children faces new charges after the youngest victim of the attack died Wednesday, authorities said.
“There was clear intent to injure the people. It was obvious,” Police Chief Stacey Cotton said. “This was absolutely not an accident.”
The car struck the five, hit the restaurant, then backed up and hit them again Tuesday at a McDonald’s parking lot, police said. All five were hospitalized, and 2-year-old Avery Nicole King died Wednesday.
Cotton said Wednesday night Lanny Barnes, 46, now faces additional charges in addition to the original five felony charges of aggravated assault.
Cotton also said Barnes is charged with four counts of aggravated battery, one count of felony murder and one count of malice murder. Warrants for the new charges were issued Wednesday night and personally served to Barnes, Cotton said.
There was no apparent connection between the victims and Barnes, according to Cotton, who said authorities have no motive.
“I’ve seen some pretty heinous things occur, but nothing like this with no explanation,” Cotton said. “That’s the strange thing. That’s the big question mark: Why?”
Cotton said he would not comment on eyewitness reports that Barnes was smiling and laughing in the car after hitting the victims.
McDonald’s worker Ryan Boldman-Snyder, who said Barnes was “smiling the whole time,” said he and others chased Barnes car when he drove away from the McDonald’s parking lot in an apparent effort to flee the scene.
Cotton said officers stopped the car and made the arrest only a few hundred yards from the restaurant. The police chief praised McDonald’s employees and customers who tried to apprehend Barnes and assist the victims.
One employee took one of the injured children to a nearby hospital, “possibly saving that child’s life,” Cotton said.
“It would have been a lot worse if some citizens had not jumped in and started pulling people away from the car,” Cotton said.