Man accidentally backs over and kills girlfriend’s child with pickup truck

A man accidentally ran over and killed his girlfriend’s toddler Sunday as he backed his pickup out of a driveway in Compton, authorities said.

The man, who was not identified by investigators, was backing out of a driveway in the 600 block of North Willow Avenue at 10:06 p.m. when he felt as though he had just run over an object, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

When he got out of his truck, “he discovered he had ran over the child,” Deputy Lisa Jansen said.

The girl, who was almost 2 years old, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said the man didn’t realize that the girl had followed him outside when he walked from the home to his truck. The girl’s mother was at home at the time, but was also unaware that her child had gone outside.

Drugs or alcohol were not a factor in the accident, sheriff’s investigators said.

According to a 2012 UC Berkeley study that looked at children who were killed or injured by cars in driveways, researchers found that most incidents involved unsupervised children.

Study authors suggested that parents “should be educated on how child mobility, developmental stage, vehicle blind zones, and environmental features contribute to risk, as well as the importance of close, constant supervision of children around driveways.”

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