9-Year-Old Joyride: Two Children Killed After Boy Steals Mother’s Car

A 9-year-old boy in rural Mississippi stole his mother’s car, taking it for a joyride with several other children before crashing into a utility pole, leaving two of the passengers dead and the driver fighting for his life.

Three-year-old Brayden Traxler and his 13-year-old uncle, Justin Harrell, died when they were ejected from the car after it crashed, according to the Daily Mail. Harrell’s adopted brother, Ty’Jun Thigpen, was behind the wheel for the fatal joyride, and he was rushed to the hospital following the accident, along with 13-year-old Breckon Harrell, Justin’s twin sister.

The 9-year-old is currently in critical condition, still fighting for his life, while Harrell was treated and released with only minor injuries, according to WBTW.

The fatal incident began when Thigpen was able to get the keys to his mother’s car. The other three children climbed into the vehicle with the 9-year-old, and the group set off for their joyride. When Ty’Jun neared a mandatory checkpoint on Highway 35, he raced away in an attempt to avoid Mississippi Highway Patrol officers, who pursued the 2003 Mercury Sable.

Two children killed and nine-year-old boy fighting for his life after he took his mother’s car for a joyride http://t.co/4ySLmTDVK3

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Sergeant Andy West, a highway patrol spokesman, related that the car raced across a supermarket parking lot before it veered off the road, overturning and striking a utility pole so hard that it snapped.

“Any accident that someone loses their life is tragic, but when you’re dealing with children it just makes it that much more tragic,” West observed.

Authorities have not revealed how the 9-year-old was able to get his mother’s keys, though they did say that none of the four children, who all lived in the same house, were wearing seat belts during the joyride. The twins’ mother said she wasn’t blaming police for the crash, which she called a “freak” accident.

Earlier this year, another 9-year-old boy went on a joyride, after he commandeered a bus in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the boy jumped into the running vehicle while it was unattended in a garage, and was able to travel three blocks behind the wheel before he crashed. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident, which transpired after the boy took the bus on a whim, according to authorities.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating the tragic results of 9-year-old Ty’Jun’s joyride, which took place 45 miles east of Jackson.

[Images via WBTW]