Woman crashed into tree going 60 mph in 35 zone; children seriously hurt

A Wake County mother appeared in court Tuesday afternoon after she crashed her car with her five children inside the previous night on Western Boulevard in Raleigh.

Just after 9 p.m. on Monday, police said a car crossed the median near Dix Park and crashed into a tree, leaving three people, including two children, seriously hurt.

Warrants show the driver, Diamond Cannady, was arrested and charged with child abuse, speeding, reckless driving and child endangerment from failure to secure the children in seat belts.

According to Wake County prosecutor Ashton Slagle during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Cannady had her five children in the car at the time of the crash, ages 3, 5, 6, 10 and 14. Four children were in the backseat of the car.

Authorities said none of the children were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

Cannady was driving at 60 mph in a 35 mph zone and her license had been revoked due to a previous driving while impaired charge, according to warrants.

Warrants said a 6-year-old child in the car suffered a broken jaw, broken arm, liver laceration and bleeding from the head. A 5-year-old suffered a concussion and laceration on his head, according to warrants.

Photos from the WRAL Breaking News Tracker show how badly the car was damaged.

Slagle said Cannady had 90 pending charges against her, including DWI, driving without a license, speeding in a school zone multiple times, child abuse, failure to wear a seat belt on multiple occasions and at least 35 failures to appear.

“She is an extreme safety risk to the public, herself and her kids,” Slagle said during Cannady’s court hearing on Monday.

A judge set Cannady’s bond for $90,000. Prosecutors initially asked the judge for a $1 million bond, saying she will continue to commit crimes and put her children at risk.

Cannady disputed the claim in court and asked the judge for leniency so she could visit her daughter, who she said is undergoing surgery.

“I love my kids [and] I am not a risk,” Cannady said. “I’m a single mom. I need to see my kids and make a decision about my daughter in surgery … I need to see my daughter.”

The judge barred Cannady from contacting her children.