ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – The mother of a 4-year-old struck by a motorcycle in a hit-and-run spoke about the incident and her son for the first time publicly.
Tyrell Baymon was holding his mother’s hand on May 19 when a motorcycle hit him, sending him flying through the air. The man driving the motorcycle kept going.
“I was standing there minding my own business with my back turned and when I heard everybody yelling and my brother yelling,” said Marcia Scroggins.
Tips from the public led police to 25-year-old Ernest Jonas. He was arrested in a hotel room days later in Shakopee.
“I’m just praying to God every day that he’ll come out of this,” said Scroggins, clutching her Bible and a blanket given to her son Tyrell on his birthday. “I went back over to the scene and I almost fainted, I couldn’t take it. It’s painful.”
The crash left her son critically injured. At first, it was touch and go for Tyrell.
“I have not left his side,” Scroggins said. “He was just lying there. I mean, he wasn’t showing no signs of anything. They took the breathing tube out today. He had a monitor in his brain, they took it out of his brain today.”
Scroggins says she too has a lot of healing to do. She says the events of that day are etched into her memory.
“I reached down for my baby — he was holding my hand — I reached down for my baby. I was trying to pick him up. The next thing I know, he was flying through the air,” Scroggins said.
Although Tyrell is improving, he’s still not the active little boy she knows. Scroggins says there will be lots of hospital time and therapy ahead for her son.
Scroggins says prayers and support from family and friends keep her going. She knows she and Tyrell have a long road ahead, but she’s glad they don’t have to do it alone.
A fund has been set up to help pay for Tyrell’s medical care. You can donate at any Wells Fargo.
