Police: Mother intentionally hit car killing 3-month-old daughter, injuring child’s father

ATLANTA — Police say a mother deliberately crashed into a car carrying her baby girl shortly after her husband picked the child up.

The crashed happened Monday around 7 p.m. along Eason Street near Chappell Road in northwest Atlanta.

Channel 2′s Tom Regan spoke with a neighbor who said when they saw the crash people rushed over to the car to rescue the trapped father and child.

“We were in the house when we heard a boom,” said Taranjela Jones. “We saw her, the car was turned up sideways up against the tree, and she was ramming her car into the side of the car.”

Atlanta police say Titayanna Phillips, 21, intentionally hit a car carrying her 3-month-daughter and the child’s father inside.

Phillips was denied bond Wednesday. She’s been charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

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They say the father had just picked up the child from the mother's house.

“She was screaming, ‘I told him that I would kill him.’ And she said, ‘Can you all get my baby out of the car?’ She was screaming, ‘That’s my baby in the back seat,’” Jones said.

She told Regan that bystanders rushed to the wrecked car to try and rescue the father and baby inside.

“Everyone tried to get the people out of the car because the car started smoking,” Jones said.

Within minutes, firefighters arrived with the Jaws of Life and pried open the wreckage. They pulled out the father and baby, Khyundra Henderson, who later died at the hospital.

Police have not discussed a possible motive for the mother’s actions. Previous police reports on Phillips reveal she suffers from mental illness and did not have legal custody of the baby.

“It’s sad. It’s heartbreaking. It wasn’t worth it at all,” Jones said.

The father remains in stable condition.

Police: Mother intentionally hit car killing 3-month-old daughter, injuring child's father The wreck happened at around 7 p.m. on Chappell Road near Eason Street in northwest Atlanta.

Cox Media Group