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Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 79F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..
Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 58F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Updated: May 18, 2024 @ 2:34 pm
Sandrea W. Brazee was given a suspended sentence on Tuesday, Dec. 8 after she was accused of trying to run over two children.
On Aug. 21, the two 12-year-old Black girls were walking from a store near their home where they had gone to get snacks. Brazee, a 53-year-old white woman, directed some comments at them and then drove away before turning around back toward the girls and driving at them in her pickup truck, according to multiple accounts of the incident.
In a video posted to her Facebook page following the assault, Faith Cook, the mother of one of the girls, said they jumped back in fear they would be hit. Brazee stopped approximately 9 feet away from one of the girls, said District Attorney Sean Boone.
After her arrest, Brazee was charged with two counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. That charge was later dropped to two counts of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.
Brazee was given two 60-day sentences, which were suspended on the condition that she pay a $1,000 fine plus court costs and undergo a year of supervised probation. She must also take a mental health and anger management evaluation and comply with treatment or programs recommended as a result of the evaluation.
Brazee was ordered to stay away from both families.
Boone said Brazee was sentenced on the misdemeanor charge because the court's investigator didn't find evidence that there was an intent to kill. The investigator spent about 17 hours looking into the case, including interviewing witnesses, re-interviewing the victims and examining body camera footage.
After the investigation, Boone said it was clear there was an assault, as Brazee backed up and then drove forward toward the girls. It couldn't be proved that Brazee intended to kill the girls with the assault, he said. Boone also said there wasn't evidence that it was a hate crime.
During statements outside the court before the sentencing, parents of both of the children said they are experiencing adverse effects from the attempted assault. Both of the children are suffering from PTSD and anxiety, their mothers said.
In a victim statement written by one of the girls, she wrote that she was afraid to go outside following the incident and that she hadn't been able to sleep and her grades were suffering because of it.
"Honestly, I feel like there's no justice at all because I could do something simple like going walking with a friend to the store to get some snacks and basically could be killed because of my skin tone," the child wrote in the statement.
The other girl didn't write a victim statement because she didn't feel like her voice was being heard, her mother, Angela Carpenzano, said.
Cook said she now plans to pursue the case in civil court.
— Breaking news reporter Rachel Berry can be reached at rberry@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @racheldberry.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: DA explains misdemeanor charge for woman accused of trying to run over children
