Driver Who Hit 9-Year-Old and Ran Claims He Was Fighting Off a Carjacker
I’M A VICTIM TOO?
The driver who rammed into a 9-year-old girl in Georgia as she played in her front yard has turned himself in and has claimed that the collision happened because he was fighting off an armed carjacker. Gabriel Fordham surrendered to police on Tuesday and is accused of hitting LaDerihanna Holmes with his car on Friday before fleeing the scene on foot. The girl suffered a fractured skull and a shattered pelvis, but is expected to survive. Fordham’s attorney, Ryan Williams, said: “Someone jumped in his vehicle with a pistol, put the gun to his face, made him drive, and the whole time my client was driving, he was kind of directing the path.” Williams added that Fordham is “apologetic and he wants to help this family get closure.” Fordham has reportedly been charged with driving on roadways laned for traffic, failure to stop at stop sign, reckless driving, hit and run, and serious injury by vehicle. Surveillance footage shows the car speeding over the curb and LaDerihanna trying to sprint out of the way before the crash.