ALBEMARLE, N.C.,None — North Carolina State Police said a Stanly County couple's efforts to save a 2-year-old girl they found wandering on the road went terribly wrong Tuesday afternoon.
They said Gertrude and William Bowers tried to help the child, but that William Bowers accidentally backed over her.
"They just stopped to help," their son, Kris Bowers, said.
He said his father and mother were driving down Stony Gap Road when they spotted 2-year-old Nevaeh Tyson in the southbound lane.
SLIDESHOW: Scene Of Deadly Accident
"It was 90-plus degrees and she's out there in nothing but a diaper and by herself," he said. "Nobody else was around."
Troopers said the Bowers pulled into the nearby driveway of a friend, Lewis Morton. Gertrude got out of their truck to pick up the little girl and called to neighbors, asking if she was theirs.
"When she called, I guess my dad maybe thought she was telling him to back up," Bowers said. "When he backed up, he hit them."
Nevaeh died at the scene. Gertrude Bowers was knocked out.
"He went back there and tried to get Gertrude to get up and she couldn't," Morton said.
He said Bowers was hysterical with grief and concern.
"He was really out of his mind," he said.
"They love kids more than anybody I know," Kris Bowers said of his parents.
On Wednesday, there were chalk drawings where Nevaeh died, one reading "We love you Nevaeh."
Eyewitness News stopped by her home, less than a mile up the road, but her family members said they didn't want to talk about what happened.
Kris Bowers said his mother is in intensive care at Carolinas Medical Center with a punctured lung and broken ribs.
Troopers said they have not filed charges against William Bowers.
They said they are still working to complete their investigation and will pass this case on to the Stanly County District Attorney. Troopers also said the Stanly County Department of Social Services is investigating.
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