A Dallas woman who claimed her 3-year-old son was killed in a road-rage shooting is now in custody facing charges including child endangerment. Lacravivonne Washington, 26, initially told investigators that her son, Jalexus Washington Jr., was shot by an aggressive driver who had been following her. But police say they found no evidence to support her version of events, the Dallas Morning News reports. They say an autopsy determined that Jalexus had been shot in the face at very close range, meaning it was impossible for the shot to have been fired from a passing vehicle.
Police say two of Washington's other children, ages two and four, were in the vehicle during the incident. Washington has been charged with endangering a child and tampering with physical evidence, NBC reports. Police say the latter charge is because she "concealed a handgun during the investigation." According to a police affidavit, Washington told police that there were no firearms in her vehicle, but a search found a handgun in the glove compartment "where the children could easily reach it." Police say there were no child seats or restraints in the car. Investigators say Washington was seen at a donut shop with the boy around 20 minutes before she took him to a hospital with the gunshot wound.
Police have not accused Washington of shooting the boy. According to an affidavit, Washington told officers in a follow-up interview that she reached for the handgun twice during the alleged road-rage incident but never pulled it out. She said she heard two gunshots while her children were climbing back and forth from the back seat to the front seat and found her son wounded, police say. Washington is being held on bail of $25,000 and could face up to two years in prison if convicted of child endangerment, the AP reports. (More Dallas stories.)
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