SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. (WTVF) — A 7-year-old girl was hurt on Tuesday after a car crashed through her Springfield home.
According to a preliminary report from Tennessee Highway Patrol, 34-year-old Cornez L. Maxwell failed to stay in the lane while going around a left curve on Highway 49 E. Maxwell struck a tree before hitting the front of the house.
Ryan Jernigan, the girl's father, said just after 10 p.m. Tuesday, he heard a loud boom and screaming from one of his daughters. Maddi and Haley Jernigan were both home when Maxwell's 2015 Honda Accord allegedly crashed through the front of their home and came to a stop in their playroom.
"I was going to pet my cat Binks and I saw the car coming," said Haley Jernigan. "I was trying to run but I couldn't make it because it was too fast. So I just turned around and put my hands over my head and half of the house or door went right beside, but some of the glass went to me."
The glass cut Haley's arms, legs and head. After a short hospital visit, she is recovering well.
The front of the home, however, is in worse shape. Ryan Jernigan said the house sits on the edges of a sharp turn. He said there have been many times where cars have gone off the road because the driver was speeding.
This time, the car made it past a stop sign, in between two trees and over a sharp concrete step before hitting the front of the Jernigans' home.
Haley's parents say they feel so fortunate that she's OK.
"If she had not moved that little bit, it would've killed her or really hurt her," Ryan Jernigan said.
Maxwell has been charged with reckless endangerment and a DUI.
