Child in stroller killed, mother critical after crash

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A child is dead and a mother critically injured after both were struck by a car.   The incident happened at Bent Tree Drive and Williamson Blvd. in Daytona Beach early Monday evening. 

Daytona Beach police say an SUV was heading southbound on Williamson around 6:30 p.m. when it was struck from behind by another vehicle, causing the SUV to roll over.  The impact forced the car that rear-ended the SUV to cross over a median and travel onto a sidewalk, hitting a mother who was pushing her one-and-a-half-year-old girl in a stroller.  Both the mother and baby were dragged under the car for a distance, before the car slammed into a tree, killing the baby.

The driver of that car is an elderly man from Port Orange who is suffering from Alzheimer's and had been reported missing by his family prior to this incident, according to police. 

"This is just a tragic tragic incident.  You have somebody at the end of their life, and you have somebody who's a year-and-a-half, two-years old.  I'm sure the driver of the vehicle is a great guy, and he has a terrible disease, and unfortunately you have this poor mother, I can't imagine just walking your child down the sidewalk, and this happens," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood.

The elderly driver is in serious condition; the driver of the SUV is a woman from Palm Coast. She was listed in good condition.