By Adam Planas, NBC News
A 12-year-old boy from Georgia was killed after the vehicle he was in flipped during a chase involving a state trooper on Friday, and his grieving mother says police should have stopped pursuing the vehicle because there were children in it.
A statement by police indicated the driver is suspected of driving while under the influence of alcohol, and he now faces homicide-related charges for allegedly causing the boy’s death.
Leden Boykins died after a Georgia State Patrol trooper followed Charlie Moore’s vehicle during a highway chase and then used a tactic commonly called a PIT maneuver to end the pursuit, police said.
Leden was a passenger in Moore’s vehicle along with Moore’s teen son, according to a report from WXIA in Atlanta. Police said Moore’s Kia Sorento overturned after a pursuing trooper used the PIT, which is when a police vehicle clips the rear of a vehicle to make it spin out.