BEAUMONT, Texas — A 52-year-old Port Neches man has been indicted in the death of a Beaumont woman who was crushed between two cars in front of her children in June 2024.
Ronnie J. Linder Jr., 52, of Port Neches, was indicted on Wednesday on a charge of intoxication manslaughter in the death of LaQuanta Pikes.
Pikes, who was originally from New Orleans, was staying in Beaumont with her three children, ages 4, 7 and 14, at the Super 8 Motel along Interstate 10 just south of College St, while trying to get back on her feet, according to a file story.
Just after 9 p.m. on June 19, 2024, she and her family were getting out of their car in the motel's parking lot of when a car, police say was driven by Linder, headed toward the family in reverse, according to the file story.
"I heard like a skrrt sound so I turned around. He was all the way in the street backwards blocking the traffic," her 14-year-old son Machai Forest told 12News in June. "And then he came back, reversed, hit the gas really hard,"
Pikes was able to push her young daughter out of the way but was unable to get herself out of the way and was crushed between the car and her car.
She died two days later at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital.
When police arrived they found Pikes conscious on the ground but unable to speak, according to a probable cause affidavit in the case. They also found her daughter inside the motel suffering from a head injury.
When officers spoke to Linder at the scene of the wreck they noticed he appeared to be intoxicated and was having trouble standing un assisted, according to the affidavit.
After Linder's "poor performance" on a field sobriety test given to him by police at the scene he was arrested for intoxication assault according to the affidavit. Later at the hospital he underwent a blood alcohol test the affidavit said.
Pikes died two days later in the hospital. Linder's charge was then amended to intoxication manslaughter.
"My grandson had to pull his mother from out, from between the cars, because the car, the man was trying to get away," Anita Pikes told 12News. "No mother wants to bury their own child, before they go."
Anite Pike's, her mother, took in the children after her death.
"I'm trying to relocate, find a stable home for them, get them therapy and keep them and they're spirits up to let them know [their] mama always love them," Anita Pikes told 12News.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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