Brockton mother, 6-year-old daughter injured after car drives into home

BROCKTON, Mass. — A 6-year-old and her mother are in the hospital after witnesses say a driver accelerated into their apartment.

Witnesses say the woman behind the wheel was trying to reverse out of the parking spot, when instead she lurched forward, striking 6-year-old Neyla Prince and her mom Stephanie, who had just stepped out of the front door on their way to school.

The impact pinned Stephanie and Neyla to the car.

Neyla suffered a broken rib and a punctured lung and Stephanie injured her pelvis.

The woman who struck them was their neighbor. Her husband told Boston 25 News reporter Kathryn Burcham another driver distracted her by honking their horn.

"She said there was a car at the back that was trying to blow a horn at her, and she came back to the look at the car, and mistakenly hit the gas," said the husband.

He also said his wife had just passed her license exam, but didn't yet have a driver's license. The Prince family says she's proven she shouldn't be in the driver's seat.

Family members believe since Stephanie and Neyla were badly injured, the driver should face criminal charges.

Brockton police say the 35-year-old driver, whom they are not naming, has been cited with a marked lanes violation and driving while unlicensed.

Cox Media Group