BENTON -- A Scott City woman who told three children to crawl under a Union Pacific train Sunday - resulting in the loss of an arm for a 7-year-old girl - is facing felony child endangerment charges.
The Scott County Prosecuting Attorney's office filed three counts of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree against Glenda K. Ross, 33, Wednesday after reviewing the case.
"This is a very unfortunate event for all three child victims - for the child that was injured and the children who had to see it happen when safety was only yards away," said Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd.
The child was injured about 180 yards from an overpass, according to a Monday news release from Scott City police chief Don Cobb.
Union Pacific officials reported the girl who was injured Sunday was with two other juveniles and two adults when the accident occurred. According to the probable cause affidavit, the other children were age 9 and 11.
The group was crawling under the boxcar of a southbound train that had stopped facing west between State Street and First Street East to allow a northbound train to pass.
Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific, said the train began moving as the 7-year-old went under.
"She didn't make it out from under the boxcar," Boyd said. The train made contact with the girl resulting in severe physical injury and permanent damage including a severed arm.
Cobb reported that a number of citizens have called the Scott City police to express their outrage. He also said in the news release that all of the parties involved have cooperated fully.
If convicted, Ross faces up to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $5,000 for each count.
"To say this was a case of poor judgment is an understatement," Boyd said. "Instructing children to crawl under a boxcar of a live train is criminal behavior."
Some information for this article was provided by the SEMO News Service