Boy dies from Santa Rosa crash injuries

A 32-year-old woman driving with a suspended license has been arrested in connection with a fatal crash that took the life of 5-year-old Santa Rosa boy Tuesday night.

Brandi Hanley, of Rohnert Park, was arrested for suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. She was released from jail after posting bail Wednesday morning, authorities said.

The boy was identified as Addison Branson, the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office said.

Hanley was eastbound on Guerneville Road around 5:30 p.m. when she plowed into the back end of a Toyota Matrix in which Branson was riding.

His father was driving the car and was stopped for a red light when the Explorer struck it with enough impact to propel it across the intersection and into a metal utility pole on the southeast corner.

The little boy was severely injured, bleeding and unconscious when a witness took him out of the crumpled car and lay him on a patch of grass on the corner.

The boy died later at a local hospital, police said.

A female passenger in the car also was seriously injured and remained hospitalized on Wednesday, police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said.

The 5-year-old’s father, whose name was not immediately available, was treated at the hospital and released, as was the driver of a Toyota Celica that also was stopped at the intersection when the Explorer struck, police said.

Hanley was treated and released from a hospital, then arrested for suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.

Banayat said police do not believe alcohol was involved, but investigators have taken measurements are doing calculations to determine how fast she was driving when she hit the two stopped Toyotas.

“There was nothing they could do,” Banayat said.

A booster seat was in the back seat where the 5-year-old was seated, she said. It was not clear if the child was in the booster seat.