Mother Charged In Wreck That Killed Toddler

CHARLOTTE, NC -- A mother who was severely injured in a car accident that also killed her 14-month-old daughter when the car she was driving swerved and hit a car head-on in oncoming traffic has been released from the hospital and charged in the toddler’s death.

According to Charlotte police, while the toddler was in an infant carrier, it was not used as designed, which is believed to have contributed to her death.

The Nov. 29 crash occurred in the 1500 block of North Graham Street, when Dora Del Carmen Sosa, 33, changed lanes to pass a large truck. When she changed lanes, however, a pickup truck was in the lane waiting to make a left turn. She swerved to miss the stopped pickup and drove into oncoming traffic, hitting head-on a Toyota Camry driven by 43-year-old David John Collins, Jr.

Both Collins, who was wearing a seat belt, and Sosa, who was not, were seriously injured in the crash. The toddler in Sosa’s vehicle sustained life threatening injuries. Paramedics transported all three to Carolinas Medical Center, where the little girl was pronounced dead.

According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police investigators, the child was in an infant carrier, but it was not being used properly. “Detectives believe the misuse of the child passenger seat was a contributing factor in the death,” CMPD said after the accident.

Sosa was released from Carolinas Medical Center Dec. 4, and charged with involuntary manslaughter, felony child abuse and driving without a license.

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