Inset: Alejandra Segundo Cruz (Florida Highway Patrol). Background: The area in Florida where Segundo Cruz’s son was killed by a pickup truck (Google Maps).
A 32-year-old mother in Florida was arrested several months after she allegedly left her 2-year-old son unsupervised outside her home, where he wandered into the street and was struck and killed by a Ford F-450 pickup truck.
Alejandra Segundo Cruz was taken into custody Thursday and charged with one count each of aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect resulting in great bodily harm in connection with the October 2025 death of her son, Damian Alexander Segundo Cruz, court records show.
The fatal crash took place just before 4 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2025, outside a home in the 8000 block of 49th Avenue North in the West Lealman area, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. The residence is about 120 miles southwest of Orlando.
Segundo Cruz allegedly left Damian and several of his siblings unattended in the front yard, just feet from the adjacent roadway. At some point, Damian “darted into the roadway” and into the path of an oncoming pickup truck.
The truck, which was being driven by a 34-year-old man, was stopped in the roadway in front of Segundo Cruz’s home when Damian dashed into the street and in front of his car, Tampa Bay Fox affiliate WTVT reported. As the vehicle began moving, the driver ran over Damian. He remained at the scene and spoke to authorities, saying that due to the boy’s size, he never even saw him get in front of the car.
Emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and pronounced Damian dead.
Detectives said Segundo Cruz’s decision to leave Damian in front of the home without an adult led directly to the fatal collision.
“Ms. Alejandra Segundo Cruz should have known that leaving young children unsupervised to play outside in the front yard near the roadway could have caused them to get seriously hurt or killed if they entered the roadway and were struck by [a] vehicle,” investigators wrote in the affidavit, according to Tampa Bay CBS affiliate WTSP.
Witnesses described hearing shouting immediately after the crash, with family members rushing into the street as the severity of the situation became clear.
Authorities said there was no indication the driver was impaired, and no criminal charges have been filed against him.
The investigation remained open for several months as investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol reviewed witness statements and evidence before ultimately determining the circumstances warranted criminal charges against the child’s mother.
Segundo Cruz is currently being held in the Pinellas County Jail without bond. She made her first appearance in court Friday. It was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to return to court.
