Mother charged in daughter's train accident

A mother allegedly led her two daughters and their friend under a stationary train Sunday in Scott City. That decision led to an accident that severed her daughter's arm.

On Wednesday it also led to felony child endangerment charges that could put her in prison for up to 21 years.

Mikala Morrow, 7, will undergo surgery today to repair the shoulder where her arm was severed, family members said. The mother, Glenda Ross, 34, faces three felony charges but won't be arrested until her daughter has had time to recover, police chief Don Cobb said.

Ross is at her daughter's side at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Mikala was in the pediatric intensive care unit on Wednesday night.

Ross, of 906 Second Street East in Scott City, was charged with three counts of first degree child endangerment, one count for each of the children she is accused of leading under the train.

Two of the children were her daughters, family members said. The third child was a friend who Ross was baby-sitting.

The children were with Ross over the weekend as part of regular visitation with their mother. They live with their father, Timothy Morrow, in Benton through the week, said Daniel Ross, Glenda Ross' father.

Daniel Ross said he didn't understand why Ross' boyfriend wasn't charged as well. The boyfriend was with Ross and the three children at the time, Daniel Ross said, and was the first to cross the parked train.

"If they are going to charge her, they should charge him, too," said Michelle Ward, Glenda Ross' sister-in-law.

The decision on charges was up to Scott County Prosecutor Paul Boyd, said Scott City police chief Don Cobb. "The prosecutor goes where the facts take him," Cobb said. "He didn't feel charges were warranted" against the boyfriend.

Boyd did not return calls Wednesday afternoon.

If convicted, Glenda Ross faces up to seven years in prison on each count.

Mikala is expected to undergo surgery today, Daniel Ross said. Doctors will attempt to repair her shoulder from the crushing injury of being run over by a train wheel.

Glenda Ross did not return a message left at the hospital. Neither did Timothy Morrow. A message was also left at Morrow's home.

The injury occurred about 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. A southbound Union Pacific train that had been waiting for a northbound train to pass began moving as the group crossed the tracks.

They tried to cross about 180 yards west of the Second Street overpass, the only place in Scott City that allows north-south access when trains are stopped.

Everyone had made it through but Mikala when the train began to move, Cobb said.

The overpass has shoulders that are six feet wide to accommodate pedestrians. "Why they didn't walk down the Second Street overpass, I have no idea," Cobb said. "I had a lot of questions about how this thing happened the way it did and I don't have a lot of good answers."

Family members also didn't understand why the group did not use the overpass. They left the home on Second Street shortly before the accident, Michelle Ward said, and would have used the overpass if they had not turned off.

Glenda Ross and her boyfriend had wanted to take Ward's two children with them but Michelle Ward said she refused to allow it.

Police are waiting to arrest Glenda Ross until Mikala has recovered more from the injury, Cobb said. The warrant issued Tuesday specifies a $75,000 bond for her release after she is arrested.

"For the good of the child, we are prepared to wait," Cobb said.

The injury to Mikala is the 11th this year as a result of people trespassing on railroad tracks in Missouri, said Rick Mooney, state coordinator for Operation Lilfesaver, the industry program to promote train safety. She is the first child injured this year, he said.

Three of the injuries resulted in deaths, Mooney said.

"Some are oblivious to the fact that this is private property, while others know and are just taking chances," Mooney said. "Our job is to alert them to the fact that it is the equivalent of walking on a busy highway."

The last trespassing injury along Union Pacific tracks in Scott County occurred in July 2003, Mooney said. The injured person in that case was a 44-year-old, he said.

The number of injuries this year is down from 2004, when there were 23 injuries, of which 10 were fatal.

Operation Lifesaver works with schools and other groups to provide safety information about railroading, Mooney said. The group provides speakers, videos and other materials to remind children and adults to stay away from railroad tracks.

"We will go to any group, anywhere, anytime," Mooney said.

The injuries occur in just about any imaginable way, Mooney said. There are joggers with headsets on, people fishing from a bridge and hunters on four-wheel ATVs who have been injured on railroad tracks, he said.

Nationally, there were 394 injuries and 480 fatalities in 2004 among pedestrians trespassing on railroad property, according to statistics on the Operation Lifesaver Web site.

Members of the Union Pacific crew were not aware of the injury to Mikala until they were down the track and told to halt, said Mark Davis, railroad spokesman. "This tragic incident is not only very hard on the family but the train crew as well, to later on find out that they injured a juvenile and did not even know it. It is one of the most heart-wrenching experiences a train crew can go through."

The railroad is providing counseling to the crew, Davis said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126