Salt Lake mother charged with killing unbuckled child in collision


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SALT LAKE CITY — The mother of a 3-year-old girl who was killed in a crash last year was booked into jail Tuesday on a criminal charge connected with the death.

Carolyn Dawn Hughes, 24, of Salt Lake City, was charged April 19 in 3rd District Court with negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor.

The woman was driving a Chevy Trailblazer with eight children on Sept. 3, 2015, near 2700 South and Redwood Road when she attempted a left turn in front of an oncoming Nissan Altima, according to charging documents.

Paisley Hayden, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the Trailblazer and killed. The SUV was knocked onto its side and landed partially on top of her, according to the charges.

A 2-year-old brother also suffered critical leg injuries in the crash, police said.

Hughes later admitted to investigators that not all of her children were restrained in the vehicle, charging documents state.

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Hughes and the remaining six children sustained scrapes and bruises, according to police. At least three of those children belong to another family. The man driving the Nissan suffered a broken arm. Police said at the time of the crash that no one in the SUV was wearing a seat belt.

The mother received a citation the previous year for failing to buckle up her children while driving.

The crash was recorded in part by a nearby Utah Transit Authority camera, the charges state.

Hughes was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Tuesday and later released. Her next court appearance is scheduled for May 13.

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Pat Reavy

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