Sunshine Magistrates’ Court: Marilyn McNaughton searched for hit and run collisions after running over Sunshine North boy, 3
An elderly woman who killed a three-year-old Sunshine North boy did not stop at the fatal scene despite thinking she had hit a dog and later searching online for hit and run collisions.
West
Don't miss out on the headlines from West. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An elderly woman who hit and killed a three-year-old boy in Melbourne has dodged a court conviction more than 18 months after the incident.
Heathcote Junction woman Marilyn McNaughton, 74, ran over three-year-old Ethan Nguyen in front of his mother on the evening of June 2, 2022.
McNaughton faced sentencing at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on February 27 this year.
Court documents said that McNaughton was driving towards her home when at 6.30pm young Ethan broke free from his mum, who was picking him up from a childcare centre.
Despite his mother chasing him and telling him to stop, Ethan ran across McIntyre Rd and was hit by McNaughton.
CCTV from a nearby shop showed Ethan being dragged by McNaughton’s red sedan.
His mother collected him from the road and he died in hospital later that night.
McNaughton continued driving to pick up dinner from a shop in Wallan and noticed the damage to her car.
She arrived home at 7.30pm and told her husband that she had hit a dog.
But, as the court heard earlier, McNaughton searched online for hit and run collisions in Melbourne before she went to sleep.
It was not until the next morning that she read the news and turned herself in.
Ethan’s family members later placed some of the boy’s favourite things, including vanilla slice, sugarcane juice, and Spider-Man balloons at the scene of the collision.
His father Dinh Phan offered forgiveness to McNaughton in the days following the collision.
“I want to tell them I am so sorry too,” he said.
“When you got a kid, they run fast. Everything is done now. I am so sorry to the driver.”
He said he would cherish memories with his “cheeky” son forever.
“(He loved) playing with his brother and sister,” Mr Phan said.
“When (my) son was home, he would always wake up, jump on you, and say ‘mummy, daddy’.
“Now without him, it is very difficult.”
Ethan, who loved toy trucks, is survived by two siblings.
In court, McNaughton pleaded guilty to failing to stop at an accident and failing to render assistance.
The court heard the incident had taken a toll on McNaughton as well as Ethan’s family.
She was fined $2000 without conviction.
Sobbing killer driver sentenced over death of mate
A speeding, boozed-up Melbourne woman who crashed her ute, killing her mate while both were returning from a visit to a friend’s grave sentenced in court.
Stalking crisis: Victim opens up on ‘physical toll’ years later
A Melbourne woman has opened up on the physical and mental toll several years of “relentless stalking” and why she started a nationwide advocacy group.