Jacksonville woman on drugs passes out at the wheel with children in back seat

Clay County deputies say a Jacksonville woman used heroin before passing out at the wheel with her two children in the back seat.

Stephanie Hammond, 28, was arrested after witnesses found her unconscious in the driver’s seat on Oakleaf Plantation Parkway on Dec. 3.

Shawn Vick said she was on her way home from church when she saw a car slowly moving across the intersection at Southwood Way.

She said she and another neighbor pulled over.

“(We) threw our cars into park and literally ran and caught up to the car,” Vick said.

Deputies say one witness opened the door and safely stopped the car.

A Clay County Sheriff’s Office report said the witnesses found Hammond unconscious at the wheel. The police report said she needed CPR because she wasn’t breathing.

“I was still on the phone with 911 and I went to check the back seat and there was a newborn and a 2-year-old in the back seat,” Vick said.

Vick said she and another witness waited with the children for hours.

Hammond is facing two counts of child neglect. Deputies believe she injected heroin into her body while she had custody of her two children, then drove.

A spoon and other items found in Hammond’s car tested positive for heroin, according to the police report.

Action News Jax went to Hammond’s house to get her side of the story but she did not want to comment.

Vick said she feels blessed to have been able to help those children.

“It was really the sovereignty of the Lord to have us there at this time so that we could steer her off the road,” she said.

A Florida Department of Children and Families spokesperson said the children are safe and being cared for by relatives as DCF investigates.

Cox Media Group