Sandy MaloneDallas, TX – Dallas police have arrested a mother who claimed her three-year-old boy was shot during a road rage incident after investigators determined that the deadly gunshot was fired from inside the car.
Police released a timeline of the events that occurred on March 28 and said the facts that 26-year-old Lacravionne Washington had given to authorities did not add up, KDFW reported.
Police said that three-year-old Jalexus Washington Jr. was seen with his mother at a donut shop in northeast Dallas at 9:38 a.m. on the morning he died.
Nineteen minutes later, Lacravionne Washington pulled into Medical Dallas City Hospital with the three-year-old child dead inside her car, KDFW reported.
She told police that her son was shot by another driver in a road rage incident that occurred about two miles south of the donut shot, in Lake Highlands, Independent reported.
The mother described the gunman who shot her toddler as a man in a red shirt who was driving a dark-colored, four-door sedan.
Investigators said that Lacravionne Washington’s story didn’t hold up, KDFW reported.
Court records showed that the autopsy report showed the toddler had been shot at close range, according to Independent.
Police said that investigators determined the shot had been fired from inside the car, KDFW reported.
Lacravionne Washington and her husband, Jalexus Washington Sr., were both arrested on outstanding traffic warrants on March 30, Independent reported.
Jail records showed that one of Lacravionne Washington’s warrants was for failing to use a child safety seat.
Court records showed that the mother refused to talk to detectives but the father gave a voluntary statement to police.
On March 31, Lacravionne Washington was also charged with endangering a child and tampering with evidence, Independent reported.
Police said that forensic analysis determined that a gun in Jalexus Washington Sr.’s possession was the firearm that had killed the child.
Officials said Lacravionne Washington had been charged with tampering with evidence after she “concealed a handgun during the investigation,” the Dallas Morning News reported.
The arrest warrant for the mother said that she had three unrestrained children in the car – ages two, three, and four – when she left the donut shop, Independent reported.
Lacravionne Washington told police someone followed her and she drove into a neighborhood to get away from them.
She told police she had just parked and taken the children out of the car when “the aggressive vehicle returned and shot at them,” Independent reported.
The affidavit said Lacravionne Washington told police there were no weapons in her vehicle and allowed officers to search it.
However, officers found a handgun in the glove compartment, within easy reach of the three unrestrained children, Independent reported.
The arrest affidavit said there were no child safety seats in the vehicle.
Investigators determined that Lacravionne Washington had bought the gun found in the glove box on March 4, Independent reported.
Police said she also purchased the gun found in her husband’s possession the same day.
The child’s father was charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon and was released later the same day after he posted a $1,500 bond, Independent reported.
He told police that he was working when his son was killed and that he had no idea where the gun his wife had bought was but said she should have taken care of it.
Lacravionne Washington bail was set at $25,000 for the child endangerment charge, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The mother was ultimately released on bail but police re-arrested her on April 13, KDFW reported.
Lacravionne Washington was charged with manslaughter on Wednesday in connection with her three year old’s death.
Police have not said who shot the little boy, KDFW reported.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services told the Dallas Morning News it had placed the couple’s four other children – the oldest of whom is nine – in the custody of a relative.
Holly Matkin
