Drunk Driver in Waco Causes Internal Decapitation of 7-Year-Old Boy

A Texas woman arrested after a crash left a child permanently paralyzed. Her BAC was 0.22 — nearly three times the legal limit.

Waco Woman Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Leaves Boy Internally Decapitated

A 45-year-old Waco, Texas woman has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault after a February crash left a 7-year-old boy permanently paralyzed with an internal decapitation, Law & Crime reports.

Anissa Cantrell Bell faces one count of first-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of the same offense at the second-degree level.

The crash occurred around 11 p.m. on Feb. 20 near the intersection of Gholson Road and Hicks Drive in Waco, approximately 100 miles northwest of Austin. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Waco CBS and Telemundo affiliate KWTX, Bell was driving her GMC Acadia northbound at high speed, attempting to pass two vehicles in a no-passing zone.

Bell first narrowly avoided a head-on collision when an oncoming vehicle managed to swerve out of her path, the affidavit states. She then struck a southbound Chevrolet Equinox head-on. That vehicle subsequently collided with a Kia Forte.

Security cameras from a nearby business captured the entire sequence on video, according to law enforcement.

An accident reconstruction investigation determined Bell was traveling 67 mph in a 45 mph zone approximately 4.5 seconds before impact. She did apply the brakes, slowing to 51 mph less than one second before the collision, investigators say.

Bell, the other drivers, and the 7-year-old boy — a passenger — were all transported to a local hospital. The child sustained severe injuries to his head and neck consistent with internal decapitation, a catastrophic condition in which the skull separates from the spinal column due to torn ligaments, while the skin and muscles remain intact. He was left permanently paralyzed.

Officers discovered a half-empty bottle of tequila inside Bell's vehicle at the scene. At the hospital, responding officers reported that her "speech was very slurred and she appeared confused," according to the charging document. A blood alcohol content test administered approximately 50 minutes after the crash returned a reading of 0.22 — roughly three times the Texas legal limit of 0.08.

Bell was arrested on Tuesday and booked into the McLennan County Jail. She has since been released on a personal recognizance bond of $100,000.

Source: Law & Crime