Inset left : Nafeeza Samad (Spalding County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Toddler identified as Hailey (GoFundMe). Background: Dundee Lake in Spalding County, Georgia (WSB/YouTube).
A woman is accused of drunkenly driving her car into a Georgia lake and standing on top of the submerged car before being rescued — while her goddaughter remained submerged underwater, authorities say.
Nafeeza Samad, 23, faces several charges from the incident, including driving under the influence, endangering a child while driving under the influence, serious injury by vehicle, reckless driving, and child safety seat violations, according to Spalding County court records.
On Aug. 10, an Acura TL sedan was seen speeding west on Dundee Lake Road into the parking lot of Dundee Lake, authorities say. Once in the parking lot, the vehicle continued to move fast, and the front of the Acura “struck large boulders used as traffic barriers,” Georgia State Patrol told Law&Crime.
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The vehicle then “vaulted” into a grassy area and crashed into the lake, which is located some 40 miles south of Atlanta. Authorities say that Samad opted to save herself.
“The driver climbed out of the vehicle and stood on top of the car; a 3-year-old child was trapped inside of the immersed vehicle,” the state agency said.
Bystanders reportedly helped the driver off the car, but minutes passed with the vehicle — and thus the child, identified only by the name Hailey — still underwater. A Spalding County Sheriff’s Office deputy and Spalding County Fire Department lieutenant arrived at the scene and were informed about the dangerous situation.
“They swam out to the car, where they could see the bubbles coming up,” Spalding County Fire Chief Mike Byrd told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB. He said the fire lieutenant dove down into the water while the deputy held onto him “just in case he got in trouble because they had no equipment, no mask, they didn’t have anything.”
The firefighter did have a tool called a window punch, which he used to break the car window, and then he brought the child to safety. But still, the toddler’s chances of survival did not look great.
“The child was not breathing, [she] did not have a pulse,” Byrd said, adding that she was in full cardiac arrest. However, the first responders kept trying life-saving measures, and “they were able to revive the child on scene. They got a pulse back, the child started breathing on its own.”
Byrd believes the child could have been underwater for as long as six minutes. The 3-year-old girl was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Atlanta, and as of Wednesday, was still breathing, according to a GoFundMe set up by her mother. However, her road to recovery is set to be a difficult one.
“Doctors have confirmed that she sustained a severe brain injury,” the fundraiser states. “Right now, Hailey cannot talk, eat, or do anything on her own besides breathe. She will need extensive rehabilitation, medical care, and long-term support as she works to recover and rebuild her strength.”
According to WSB, Samad was the child’s godmother – and she was supposed to be taking the girl to get Pull-Ups, an effort in transitioning from diapers, when the crash occurred.
The child has reportedly been taken out of the children’s hospital’s intensive care unit, her mom said. She added that the crash was “caused by someone I trusted.”
“The car plunged into a lake in Spalding County, Georgia, and by the time first responders arrived, the vehicle was completely submerged with my baby trapped inside & the driver standing on top of the car not trying to help my child,” Tamika Whitson wrote.
“Despite the devil’s attempt to take her from us, my baby is proving to be stronger than anyone could imagine,” she added. “She is fighting with everything she has and I believe with time, prayers, and support, she will continue to defy the odds.”
As of Thursday, the case was still being investigated, led by the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRTD). Video of the car in the aftermath of the crash shows a shattered windshield, tires coated in mud, and the front bumper removed.
