Mom Dies Clinging To Moving Van In Attempt To Stop Man From Kidnapping Son

An Arizona man has been arrested for abducting his 10-month-old son and speeding away in a minivan while the child’s mother clung to the moving vehicle and got killed.

Eric Maes, 30, of Sun City was arrested Wednesday from North Phoenix and charged with one count of manslaughter, Phoenix police said in a statement.

The alleged abduction happened on Tuesday evening when 30-year-old Brittany Martie was loading her 10-month-old baby into the minivan, outside her home in Peoria. Maes jumped into the driver’s seat and began driving away with the child inside, police said.

The witnesses told the police that Martie had clung to the moving vehicle for some time but was eventually thrown off as he drove away. The emergency officers came home to find critically injured Martie who was rushed to the hospital. She later died at the hospital, reported local news outlet AZ Central.

Maes did not have the custody of the child and Martie was the sole custodian, police said. The police issued an amber alert for the kidnapped child at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday. The child was eventually found safe at around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

The police got reports of an abandoned baby at an address and found the missing child clothed and in good health at the doorstep of the house. The Peoria police spokesperson Sgt. Amanda Gaines said that the home was not known to Maes or Martie.

The police also found the unoccupied minivan from the same neighborhood. The police got a 911 report of sighting Maes at around 4:45 pm and responded to the area. Maes tried to run away as the police approached, and was taken into custody after a brief search. He was then transported to the Peoria Police Department headquarters where he was questioned.

Maes was initially charged with one count of manslaughter though charges may be amended or added later, police said Wednesday.

“The raw strength she had for that baby — I wouldn’t expect anything else from her,” Martie’s friend Melanie Cowan said. “She went down fighting and that’s not surprising,” Cowan added.