An 82-year-old woman is speaking publicly after being accused of striking a 7-year-old boy with her car and leaving the scene, an incident that left the child hospitalized in critical condition.
The crash happened January 10 in southwest Miami-Dade. The boy’s mother said she was outside with her son, who was riding an electric scooter, when a silver Toyota Camry hit him and drove away.
“Had I not been outside, I probably would’ve found him dead,” the mother said. “I don’t understand how someone can hit a child and not stop.”
Police say Karina Pubchara-Martinez was driving the vehicle and failed to report the crash. Officers responding to the scene found fragments of her car, including a broken front bumper, in the roadway.
Martinez appeared in bond court in a wheelchair and straight jacket. A judge ordered her not to drive. She faces a charge of leaving the scene of a crash causing serious bodily injury.
After bonding out, Martinez told NBC6 she panicked.
“I got afraid and I ran away, and that’s very bad,” she said. “I pray for him, and I’m sorry for what happened.”
She claimed the child and his mother did not stop as they should have, but acknowledged that leaving made her situation worse.
The child was rushed to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in critical condition. He suffered a head injury, brain lesion, and broken femur. After multiple surgeries, he is now recovering but faces a long rehabilitation process.
His mother, a nurse, has stopped working to care for him. Colleagues have created a donation account to help support the family during his recovery.
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