SUMTER, S.C. – A 14-year-old girl driving a car packed with children crashed into a tree, killing one child, and police said Friday the girl's mother was in the passenger seat at the time.
Nicole Ford, 30, was charged with seven counts of unlawful conduct toward a child for allowing her daughter to drive the 1989 Buick. Police said Ford was in Sumter County jail pending a bond hearing. More charges could be filed.
According to a police report, six other children were in the car Tuesday night when it hit a tree while turning right. Nobody in the car was wearing a seat belt. A one-year-old girl who was riding on another child's lap in the back seat died Thursday from injuries sustained in the crash.
Drivers in South Carolina must be at least 15 to get a beginner's permit.
Sumter County jail officials did not know if Ford had an attorney.