PITTSBURGH — A pregnant woman sitting outside a drugstore died when an elderly driver trying to park jumped the curb and pinned her against the wall, police said.
Doctors delivered her nearly full-term baby, who police said was in critical condition Wednesday night. A hospital spokeswoman said Thursday that no information about the child would be released.
The victim, 30-year-old Jodie Guthrie, had been sitting outside a Rite Aid on the city’s North Side on Wednesday afternoon when an 88-year-old motorist pulled into a parking space, authorities said.
The driver might have hit the gas instead of the brake, police said, causing his minivan to lurch out of the parking space and onto the walkway where Guthrie sat.
Witnesses tried to get the driver to back up after the accident, but he didn’t seem to understand what happened — possibly because he couldn’t see Guthrie pinned behind the car, said police Commander RaShall Brackney.
“He appeared to be disoriented at that point in time and confused as to the directions they were giving him,” Brackney said Wednesday.
The motorist was questioned by detectives and released Wednesday night without charges. However, the investigation remains open, Lt. Daniel Herrmann told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Thursday.
The driver’s granddaughter, Candy Thompson, apologized to Guthrie’s family. Thompson was not with her grandfather during the accident.
“I can’t imagine what her family is going through right now,” Thompson told KDKA-TV. “They are in my thoughts and prayers.”
Guthrie’s death occurred the same day a 27-year-old pregnant woman in New York was fatally shot outside her apartment in Queens after dropping off her children at school.
Anastasia Massey, who was about six months pregnant, died at a hospital Wednesday. Her baby girl was born alive but later died. No arrests have been made.
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