A 20-month-old girl named Eliana Culbertson was critically injured after being accidentally hit by a vehicle at her home on Wednesday morning.
The accident occurred just before 9 a.m. in the 100 block of Warwick Drive.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, the child's mother was putting air into her tire and when she wasn't looking, the child wandered two houses down the street and was run over by a neighbor backing out of their driveway.
"She came to borrow an air pump," said Willie Johnson, who lives nearby. "And I gave her an air pump and she went down to start pumping the tire, but I guess the kid wandered away and she wandered behind the car that she got hit."
The neighbor was driving a black Chevrolet Equinox.
Neighbor's say the driver's side-view mirror on the Chevy has been missing for some time. It was knocked off during a previous accident. Witnesses say that may have been a factor in the accident.
"She got out and was like, 'Oh my God' and went back in the house and called 911," said Jermaine Taylor, a witness who watched the tragedy unfold.
The sheriff's office and EMS responded and reported that they had a pulse from the victim despite being unresponsive. She was taken to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
Authorities say the child is in critical condition.
"It's a quiet neighborhood but kids (are) going to wander," Johnson said. "It's hard to see someone behind my car. It's hard."
The crash remains under investigation.
