Cousin of boy, 15, who fell off car charged in connection with his death

PITTSBURGH — The cousin of a 15-year-old boy who died after falling off a moving car is charged with vehicular homicide in connection with the teen’s death, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Channel 11 News Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh police obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday for Nadia Goins-Samuels, 23.

According to the criminal complaint, Goins-Samuels’ cousin, Ronte Nelson-Goins, was riding on the trunk of her car on Feb. 29 in Homewood when he fell off and struck his head. He later died on March 8 at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. %

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An autopsy showed he died of blunt force trauma to the head. The medical examiner's office ruled his death an accident.

Goins-Samuels told police the crash happened while she was with friends and family, the criminal complaint said.

After driving up and down Race Street with a friend holding on to the hood of Goins-Samuels’ 2001 Pontiac Bonneville for a while, Ronte hopped on the trunk of the car and asked Goins-Samuels to drive. She told him no several times, but he kept yelling for her to do it, she told police, according to the complaint.

She drove about 25 to 30 mph along Race Street, according to the complaint, and at one point, she heard him say, "Whoa," and saw him begin to slide off the trunk.

One witness told police that Ronte’s body weight shifted after the car passed Baxter Street, which caused him to push off and jump from the car. The witness said Ronte fell face first, the complaint said.

Another witness said, "Ronte appeared to tip forward (and) fall from the back of the car face first” at the intersection of Race and Baxter streets, the complaint said.

In addition to vehicular homicide, Goins-Samuels is charged with involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person and two summary traffic violations.

Goins-Samuels was not in custody as of 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Cox Media Group