1-Year-Old Girl Dies After Being Accidentally Run Over in Driveway

In what police are calling an “unfortunate accident,” a 1-year-old girl died Monday afternoon after a van driven by her uncle backed over the infant in the driveway of his A Street apartment building.

Shachina Galloway died shortly after arriving at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in neighboring Oxnard of what police officers said were major head injuries.

“They are just absolutely devastated,” Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Ted Snyder said of the family.

Officers were unable to get a complete statement from the van’s driver, 48-year-old Louis Miller, to determine exactly what happened, Snyder said.

“He’s very distraught and not able to be interviewed.”

No arrests were made, and police say they plan to continue their investigation of the incident today.

Miller’s niece had been visiting his apartment at 249 E. A St. with several other children at the time the accident occurred, Snyder said.

Miller apparently failed to see the toddler as he was backing a large Chrysler van out of the apartment building’s driveway about 2:20 p.m., Snyder said.

Upset family members, some of whom were in the vehicle when the accident occurred, declined comment Monday.

Two residents of a neighboring house, who asked not to be identified, said they rushed outside after hearing a commotion. They said they found the child’s anguished mother leaning over her daughter, who lay face down on the driveway.

“The mother of the baby was just sitting down patting her, saying, ‘Come on, come on,’ ” said one neighbor.

Police, firefighters from the nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center and paramedics from Gold Coast Medical Service treated the young victim at the scene before she was rushed to the hospital.

Another unidentified neighbor said she has long had concerns about the safety of youngsters who play in the small area outside the apartment complex.

“Cars zip in and out all the time, and there’s a lot of little children over there,” she said.