WOODLAWN, Md. — A mother and her 9-year-old son were killed, and her 5-year-old daughter is in critical condition, after the car they were riding in left a road in Woodlawn, struck a tree, and caught fire, Baltimore County Police said.
An early investigation showed that the 2017 Nissan Altima driven by a 29-year-old Baltimore woman was heading west on Gwynn Oak Avenue towards Park Drive when she lost control at about 11:05 p.m., police said. The car jumped the curb of the raised median separating the travel lanes, struck a tree in the median and caught fire. Witnesses in the area were able to get to the crash sight and get the woman and her two children out of the Nissan.
All three were taken to area hospitals where the woman and her son were pronounced dead.
Police identified the mother, who was the driver, as Tanja Tanesha Shields, of the 5500 block of Wesley Avenue in the city’s Howard Park neighborhood. Her son was identified as Khalil M. Wyche. Her 5-year-old daughter remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Police said none of the car’s occupants were wearing seatbelts and neither child was in a car seat at the time of the crash. The Baltimore County Police Crash Investigations Team is investigating to determine if additional factors may have contributed to a deadly crash.
