Man sentenced to one year in hit-and-run that killed 6-month-old boy in Detroit

DETROIT – A Detroit man faced sentencing Monday for a fatal hit-and-run that killed a 6-month-old boy and injured three others on Detroit's west side.

Deandre L. Cody, 31, was charged with failure to stop at an accident when at fault resulting in death, two counts of failure to stop at an accident resulting in serious injury resulting in death or serious impairment, driving with a suspended license causing death, and two counts of driving with a suspended license causing serious injury.

He pleaded guilty to failure to stop at the scene of an accident and the other charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.

ORIGINAL REPORT: 6-month-old boy killed in hit-and-run; Detroit police search for driver

The father of the victim spoke at the sentencing hearing saying his son would have turned one year old in two days.

“He hit my kids, rolled them over, and kept going,” the father said. “I forgive him, but I won’t forget.”

The father said he objected to the plea bargain and that the prosecution failed to tell him a plea was reached. The prosecution said they tried contacted him and apologized.

Cody was sentenced to one year behind bars followed by three years of probation.

What happened

The crash occurred May 18 at about 8:30 p.m. when a silver Pontiac Grand Prix T-boned a minivan at the intersection of Archdale Street and Puritan Avenue, which is near the Southfield Freeway south of West McNichols Road.

The van was hit so hard it flipped and rolled over. There were six people inside -- a mother, grandmother and four children ages 6 months, 2 years, 4 years, and 12 years old. All four children were thrown from the van after the windows shattered.

The 6-month-old boy was killed. The rest of the people in the minivan suffered non-life-threatening injuries. 

The deadly hit-and-run crash on Detroit’s west side sent the family’s van flipping – ejecting all four of Latoya Powel’s children who were sitting in the back seat.

“And I woke up, I was on the ground, and I just got up like ‘my babies, my babies!’” Powel said.

The family says despite being properly restrained in a car seat, their 6-month-old son did not survive his injuries from the crash.

“He was born a preemie, he got big and was starting to crawl and laugh, and in 6 months, they took him away from us,” Brown said.