Suspected Drunk Driver Hits 9-Year-Old In Downtown Square
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COLLIN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - Witnesses came forward to describe the horror of what they saw earlier in the day, in McKinney. That is when a suspected drunk driver ran down a nine-year-old girl in the city's historic downtown square. The child was still fighting for her life Monday night.
The spot marked by police in the middle of the street shows the point of impact. From that point, the little girl was thrown more than 10 feet and witnesses at surrounding businesses say they could actually hear the child head hitting the pavement.
There are images of paramedics rushing to get the girl to a hospital. It was moments after Justin Hinton saw something he will never forget.
"I've never seen anything like that it happen before. [It was] all so fast," he said. "I never saw anybody actually fly through the air like a ragdoll. It was so terrible."
It was lunchtime in McKinney's town square when police say the nine-year-old victim was walking in an unmarked crosswalk. Seconds later a 54-year-old man drove his pickup truck into her.
Hinton said, "It never slowed down after impacting her. There was a thud… two thuds."
The girl's mother was nearby as the driver and others rushed to her side. Witnesses say the driver, William Weir, immediately jumped out of his vehicle to check on the girl.
But police suspected Weir man had been drinking. He was arrested at the scene and charged with Intoxication Assault.
The little girl was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Witnesses like Hinton are praying that the girl survives. "It kind of broke my heart. I couldn't do my job immediately after."
Witnesses say there used to be a stop sign near the unmarked crosswalk, but now there's a long straightaway without one and there are no signs at nearby brick crosswalks.
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