SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A Shelby County toddler is safe tonight after being put out of a car she was riding in and left on the side of the road.
Derrick Keith is behind bars. Shelby County investigators said he assaulted his girlfriend and her child at the corner of Houston Levee Road and Country Way Drive.
Neighbors called the crime horrendous.
“It’s inhuman, it shouldn’t be possible in our society, it’s ridiculous,” Jarvaughn Rogers said.
According to investigators, Keith was driving with his girlfriend when the two started arguing. She told deputies Keith beat her during their argument and even tried to push her out of the moving car.
“It stuns me to think he did something like that,” Rogers said.
Deputies said the 2-year-old was in the backseat while the couple argued. Keith took the child out of the backseat and placed the child on the shoulder of the road. The toddler sat in the car seat as cars whizzed by Thursday afternoon.
The victim told investigators Keith then tried to drive off and almost ran over the little girl.
“On the shoulder of the road — I think he should serve time for something like that,” Rogers said.
Keith is facing several charges, including assault and child abuse.
He’s no stranger to trouble in Shelby County. WREG discovered Keith has been arrested for murder, assault, aggravated kidnapping — the charges go on and on.
“Jesus! He shouldn’t be walking around society to begin with,” Rogers said.
Thankfully, both Keith’s girlfriend and her 2-year-old girl are fine.
Neighbors who live by this busy intersection said they hope Keith stays in jail and won’t harm anyone else anytime soon.
Keith heads to court Monday; his bond is set at $10,000.
