3-Year-Old Florida Girl Dies After Mother Under Influence Crashes Vehicle Into Tree, Accused Arrested

A woman in Fort Myers, Florida, was arrested Monday (April 20) in connection with an accident that killed her three-year-old daughter.

On Feb.17, the woman, identified as 30-year-old Leslie Joe Zeagler, was driving a minivan with her daughter inside the vehicle, when she blacked out. The vehicle struck a palm tree. The vehicle rolled and the child, identified as Serenity Robinson, was ejected from the vehicle. The child died on the spot. The mother was rushed to a local hospital with minor injuries.

“The subsequent investigation found that there was no child restraint device in the vehicle as required by law and that Serenity was not restrained at the time of the crash. Further, Zeagler was found to be impaired by multiple controlled substances while operating the motor vehicle at the time of the crash,” the Fort Myers Police Department said in a news release.

The mother surrendered herself and was taken into custody Monday. She was charged with multiple offenses including aggravated manslaughter of a child, driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license. She was held at the Lee County Jail and her bond was not set.

"The senseless death of Serenity is one that certainly could have been avoided. The Fort Myers Police Department reminds motorists not to drive while impaired and certainly not with a restrained or unrestrained child in the car,” the news release said, adding that over 800 motorists have died in traffic crashes so far this year in Florida.

In a similar incident earlier this month, a South Carolina teen was charged after she crashed her car with her two-month-old daughter inside. Police responded to the scene and confronted 18-year-old Zada Mae Ayers, who told them that she took an anti-psychotic drug before picking up the child from a friend’s place. The officers went closer to the car and got a smell of marijuana from inside the car. A plastic bag with “what appeared to be marijuana sitting in plain view on a shelf above the glove box” was found inside the vehicle. The woman was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and child endangerment.