A 33-year-old Michigan man faces charges of reckless driving causing death and second-degree child abuse after striking his fiance's 3-year-old daughter with his pickup truck. Authorities say Daniel Richard Bryant was driving in a Cedar Springs mobile home park on April 3 when the girl, who was running alongside the vehicle, was killed. Bryant described the incident to deputies as the pair racing up the street.
Kent County Sheriff's Office deputies responded just after 4 p.m. on April 3 to the 13000 block of Darcy Circle NE for a report of a child struck by a pickup truck. First responders tried to save 3-year-old Estella Johnson, but she was pronounced dead at the scene from severe injuries. Investigators identified Bryant as the driver, noting signs of reckless driving such as recent acceleration tire marks and possible alcohol involvement, as an odor of intoxicants was detected on him during transport to jail. Bryant, described by police as a father figure to Estella and the fiance of her mother Alyssa, admitted to consuming about a half gallon of alcohol daily and being an alcoholic. He told investigators he was driving around 10 mph from a family member's home with another child when Estella began running next to the truck. He claimed she suddenly ran under it after her sibling yelled to stop, according to a probable cause affidavit cited by local outlets. Neighbors witnessed the aftermath, with one attempting CPR on the girl without success. 'I was doing compressions on her chest, but by the time cops or paramedics got here, she was already gone,' the neighbor told WOOD-TV. Another neighbor called Alyssa home, who reacted with intense grief upon learning of the tragedy. Bryant has a prior reckless driving conviction. A judge ordered him held on $500,000 bond on April 6, with a probable cause hearing set for April 15.