A Florida mother is trying to understand how someone could hit her son with a car while he was riding his dirt bike and just drive away. The nightmare unfolded on January 8, 2025, in Wakulla County. Kaitlyn Crawley’s 9-year-old son, Sawyer, was riding north on Excalibur East Drive when a driver in a maroon SUV ran into his dirt bike and left the scene. Home video surveillance caught the driver’s vehicle on camera.
Crawley told WCTV her son suffered a brain bleed and broken femur following the crash. He is now in critical care at a Florida hospital. Less than 24 hours later, police arrested 44-year-old Alfreda Lashon Nelson in connection with the hit-and-run.
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The accident occurred in the afternoon.
According a notice and image on Facebook from the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office, investigators and the Florida Highway Patrol were “Soliciting the public assistance in identifying the depicted maroon vehicle and its operator, which were involved in a hit and run involving a juvenile at the intersection of Country Way and Excalibur East Drive around 3:55 pm this afternoon.”
Emergency responders took Sawyer to the hospital in critical condition.
Crawley shared an update about Sawyer’s condition on Facebook, along with a picture of her son heavily sedated. She wrote, “I debated on posting this but I hoping the jerk who hit him and ran will see this. This is what you did to my baby. This is who you left alone and unconscious in the street completely helpless. Look at his face and look what you did.”
She added that her son was “off morphine but still on the vent. Small amounts of blood on brain and swelling has improved. He’s moving to pitches but won’t open his eyes so they are giving him more time to wean before they make the decision of whether or not a brain pressure plate needs to be placed. We have not addressed the leg yet. Just focused on his head.”
The family created a GoFundMe account to pool reward money for anyone with information leading to an arrest. They’ve raised more than $7,000 of a $10,000 goal thus far.
Police arrested Nelson on January 9.
Just before 6 p.m. Thursday, the Florida Highway Patrol took Nelson into custody, WCTV reported. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with serious bodily injury. She is being held in the Wakulla County Jail. Per Florida law, if convicted, Nelson faces up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
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The arrest gave Crawley a bit of relief.
She shared her gratitude on Facebook but asked loved ones to continue to pray for Sawyer.
“They got her. They freaking did it. This community, FHP, wakulla county sheriff’s department and capital police have absolutely blown me away. There will never be enough thank you and tears to show my appreciation,” the mother wrote in her post. “But please keep those prayers coming. He is still sedated and on a ventilator. Another ct at 5 am.”
A friend wrote, “Praise God, I pray she pays for this!!!!!! It takes a special kinda evil to leave a lifeless person especially a child!!!! Give me a cpl minutes with her!! I wish”
Now, the focus is on recovery. As one person shared, ““Thank God!!!! One worry out the way at the moment and now to get your baby healed.”
Someone else agreed, writing, “I’m so happy to see this!!!! continued prayers for his recovery!!!”
