Woman Pleads Guilty to Vehicular Assault of Five-Year-Old

            WASHINGTON – Thaniyyah Veney, 33, pleaded guilty today to driving a car into a five-year-old  girl who was standing on the sidewalk waiting for a bus with her father in July 2023, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced.

            Veney pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to one count of aggravated assault while armed with a vehicle. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 23, 2024, before the Honorable Jason Park. Veney is being held pending sentencing.

            According to the government’s evidence, on the afternoon of Saturday, July 8, 2023, the five-year-old was with her father waiting for a bus in the 3200 block of Fourth Street, SE. At around 1 p.m., a car driven by Veney, drove into the child and her father as they stood on the sidewalk. Veney’s car drove over the child and continued traveling until it struck the front steps of a home. When the vehicle stopped, Veney got out and walked to a nearby alley. She left the child trapped beneath her car.

            Using a makeshift lever fashioned from a ladder, firefighters were able to raise the car enough to extract the child, who was then airlifted to the hospital where she was diagnosed with life-threatening injuries. Hours after the incident, the defendant’s breath was tested and found to contain an alcohol concentration above the per se threshold for intoxication.

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.