Shreveport Mother Arrested After September Crash That Severely Injured Her Toddler as Police Cite Alcohol and Speeding Evidence

SHREVEPORT, LA — A Shreveport woman has been arrested after investigators connected her to a September crash that left her 2-year-old child with a severe head injury. Police said the arrest came after they gathered medical records and other evidence tied to the wreck.

Investigators say Tonnetta Johnson, 27, was taken into custody Wednesday. The crash happened shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 5, and officers said Johnson was first hospitalized with injuries that were described as life-threatening.

According to the Shreveport Police Department, Johnson later admitted during a hospital interview that she had been drinking before the crash. Officers also said data pulled from her 2025 Honda Civic showed she was moving at a high rate of speed.

Police say hospital records showed elevated alcohol level after the wreck

Shreveport investigators said the case moved forward after they received Johnson’s medical records this week. Those records reportedly showed an elevated alcohol level following the crash, giving police additional evidence to support the arrest.

Police said Johnson was taken to Ochsner LSU Health after the wreck. While she was being treated, investigators spoke with her at the hospital, where they said she acknowledged drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel.

The arrest followed the review of that medical information and the interview, according to police. Johnson was later contacted and asked to meet investigators in a Walmart parking lot on Shreveport-Barksdale Highway, where she was arrested.

Toddler was not properly secured and became unresponsive at the hospital

Police said Johnson’s 2-year-old child was riding in the back seat at the time of the crash but was not properly secured in an age-appropriate child safety seat. Officers said the child suffered a severe head laceration in the wreck.

After officers transported the child to Ochsner LSU Health, medical personnel moved the toddler to a trauma center when the child became unresponsive during triage. Police did not release further details about the child’s condition.

The injury description underscores why investigators are treating the case as serious. The child’s lack of proper restraint is among the key circumstances police said they examined as part of the crash investigation.

Vehicle data pointed to speeding before the crash

In addition to the medical records, investigators said they downloaded data from Johnson’s 2025 Honda Civic. That information, police said, indicated the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash.

Speed, combined with the reported alcohol evidence, became central to the case. Police have not publicly laid out the exact sequence of events that led to the wreck, but the evidence they described suggests investigators believe driving behavior played a major role.

Authorities said the data download was part of the broader investigation into what happened in the early morning crash. The findings were used alongside the hospital records and Johnson’s statements.

Johnson faces eight charges including first-degree vehicular negligent injuring

Johnson now faces eight charges, according to police. Among them is one count of first-degree vehicular negligent injuring, along with multiple traffic violations tied to the crash.

The Shreveport Police Department said the arrest was the result of the investigation into the September wreck. Officials have not said whether additional charges are possible or whether any other people were involved.

Because the case centers on a child’s serious injury and alleged impaired driving, it adds another layer of scrutiny to a crash that began as a traffic incident and escalated into a criminal investigation.

Crash investigation began in September and culminated in Wednesday arrest

The crash occurred on Sept. 5 around 1:33 a.m., but Johnson was not arrested until Wednesday after investigators received the records they needed, police said. That gap shows how the case depended on follow-up work, including medical documentation and vehicle analysis.

Investigators said they arranged the final meeting with Johnson in a Walmart parking lot on Shreveport-Barksdale Highway. She was arrested there without further details being released about the encounter.

The Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation and said the case remains tied to the September crash that left a young child seriously hurt.