A two-week-old baby boy was enjoying his first-ever day out when he was struck by an uninsured driver.
Ciaran Morris, 18-day-old, was on his first-ever outing with parents Camaron Morris and Codie Holyman, both 18, in Walsall when tragedy struck on Easter Sunday last year.
A court heard that James Paul Davis, 35, was driving a BMW at 67mph in a 30mph zone moments before he smashed into the pram being wheeled by parents Morris and Holyman on April 4, 2021.
Ms. Holyman suffered a broken collar bone and a bruised foot in the crash and has had constant back pain since the said incident. Reports said that horrified witnesses could be heard “screaming” as they “desperately tried to get the car off the child”.
On the said day, Caine Edwards was walking with his friends on Brownhills High Street when the crash happened. Edwards told Wolverhampton Crown Court: “I heard a bang and saw a car swerving towards us, the car hit the pram and hit the wall, I was in shock. I saw Camaron shouting “You just killed my son!”
Jenny Butler, a tattooist, is another witness who witnessed the crash. It was just meters from her shop, and she saw the parents frantically trying to save Ciaran. Butler said: “I saw the BMW mow down pedestrians on the pavement and crush the pram containing the baby.”
“I heard screaming. I saw the passenger try and exit the car, he was skinny, ginger, and wearing a white T-shirt. Members of the public were screaming at him and he ran off,” she added.
Daniel Kennedy was a rear passenger in a white Ford B-Max, which was also struck by the BMW seconds before the fatal crash. He told the court that he chased Davis down the street as Morris and Holyman desperately tried to save their baby son.
Mr. Kennedy told jurors: “It felt like every second was a minute, I decided to run after the driver. I was running on adrenaline. I wanted to get a clear shot of his face on my phone. I got a clear shot of him, Davis, in Tesco car park. I saw him on his hands and knees and out of breath.”
Dean Athersmith, another witness, told the court how he heard Davis call his girlfriend after the crash and tell her he had “ran over a baby”. Athersmith said: “I noticed a man running towards us. The man looked very rough like he had been in a fight, he had blood running down his leg.”
Athersmith continued: “He was big and kept on pulling up his T-shirt to show his belly. I’ve just run someone over, I need to phone my missus, I am going to go down for a long time.
When he got off the phone, I asked him why he left the scene he said: “They were after me”. It was like he wanted me to stay with him but I told him I had to go and he ran off.”
Despite their efforts to free the youngster and revive him, little Ciaran died in hospital soon afterward having suffered serious injuries to his head and body.
Police bodycam footage that was played to the jury shows Davis telling PC Tom Rust that he had “blacked out” before the crash. Davis said: “I wasn’t even speeding or anything. I blacked out. I ain’t killed no one on purpose.”
He continued: “I was thinking I’d wake up in a minute. I heard the banging and that. When it all stopped, I was in the car and I thought what’s happening. I was surrounded by people. My mate said I was passed out behind the wheel. If I was speeding, I would be in some state, wouldn’t I?”
“I accept I’m going to prison if somebody’s died. A baby, f***s sake. I’m sorry bab. I blacked out; I was doing 20mph. I wasn’t even speeding or nothing. I blacked out. I ain’t killed no one on purpose. F***ing hell man,” he added.
Davis, of Bloxwich, West Midlands, denies causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while uninsured, and causing death by careless driving. He says it was like a dream as the trial continues.
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