A mother’s attempt to teach her children a lesson took a heartbreaking turn when she accidentally ran over her 8-year-old daughter—a mistake that has now landed her in jail for four years.
Jasmine White, 27, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced this week after pleading guilty to recklessly endangering her child in a moment of poor judgment that nearly cost her daughter her life.
A Game Gone Horribly Wrong
On a summer evening in August 2024, White and her young children were in the parking lot of their Cedar Glen Apartments complex. Wanting to make them listen and follow her orders, she played a game she had done before: racing her kids to the car, locking the doors, and pretending to drive away—a tactic meant to scare them into obedience.
But this time, her 8-year-old daughter panicked.
The little girl grabbed onto the car door handle, desperate to stop her mother from leaving without her. But as White hit the gas, her daughter lost her grip, fell under the car, and was run over.
Witnesses screamed. White immediately slammed on the brakes and jumped out, realizing her daughter was seriously hurt.
A Child’s Fight for Recovery
Paramedics rushed the 8-year-old to the hospital with severe injuries, including a fractured leg and head trauma.
She survived, but the road to recovery has been long. Doctors say she is lucky to be alive—and that the accident could have been much worse.
A Mother’s Regret and a Harsh Sentence
White was arrested that night and later pleaded guilty, admitting that she never meant to hurt her child but had made a terrible mistake.
At her sentencing, she sobbed in court, telling the judge she would give anything to take back that moment.
“I love my babies,” she said. “I thought I was teaching them a lesson, but I was the one who needed to learn.”
The judge, while acknowledging her remorse, still handed down a four-year prison sentence, saying, “A parent’s job is to protect, not to scare their children into submission.”
A Lesson for Parents Everywhere
The case has struck a chord with many parents, some of whom admit they’ve used similar scare tactics to discipline their kids. Experts warn, however, that fear-based parenting can have unintended and dangerous consequences.
Now, White’s daughter is recovering, but the scars—both physical and emotional—will likely stay with her forever.
Meanwhile, her mother will spend the next four years behind bars, forced to reflect on the night a harmless game turned into a nightmare.