los angeles — A California woman has been charged with manslaughter after an 81-year-old man died from his injuries after being struck by her teenage son on an electric motorcycle, prosecutors said Friday.
On April 16, Tommy Joe Major’s 14-year-old son was riding a Surron electric motorcycle and doing wheelies when he struck Ed Ashman, according to prosecutors. Ashman, a former U.S. Marine Corps captain, was returning home from his job as a substitute teacher at a Lake Forest high school.
He was seriously injured and died Thursday. Major, of Aliso Viejo in Orange County, was charged with manslaughter as a result of a previous felony child endangerment charge.
“This mother handed her 14-year-old son a deadly weapon and, despite multiple warnings of the dangers, continued to allow him to illegally ride an e-scooter until he finally killed someone,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
Meagher has not yet appeared in court, and a public defender is not listed for her in records. The district attorney’s office gave The Associated Press the name of a private attorney who may represent Meagher; This person did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Major was also charged with felony after the fact and misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to an officer.
Mager called the police department in June 2025 to complain that someone had posted photos of her son riding the e-scooter, prosecutors said. In an interaction with deputies that was recorded on a body camera, she said she bought the car and “knew he drove it recklessly.”
Deputies warned her that she could face criminal charges because she allowed him to ride her illegally, prosecutors said.
A bike is classified as an e-motorcycle under state law if it has an electric motor with a power of more than 750 watts or can reach speeds of more than 20 mph (32 km/h) without having to pedal. Riders must be at least 16 years old and have a motorcycle driving licence.
The Surron e-bike in question is capable of reaching speeds of 56 mph (90 kph), according to the manufacturers.
In the hours after the April collision, Meagher told deputies that neither she nor her son owned a Surron e-scooter or had access to one, prosecutors said.
The district attorney’s office said it could not discuss whether the boy would face trial because it is a juvenile case.
Orange County prosecutors filed child endangerment charges against three parents this year for allowing their children to ride e-scooters illegally. In Contra Costa County, Northern California, parents were charged after their child collided with a pickup truck.
In the past, parents were typically prosecuted for truancy because the law specifically provided for their liability, said Lawrence Rosenthal, a law professor at Chapman University.
But parental criminal liability in other circumstances has gained attention in recent years, especially in prosecutions and convictions for shootings committed by minors.
“This is a very new theory,” Rosenthal said. “There is not a long, solid history.”
In cases involving shootings, prosecutors must prove that the parent committed some act of “criminal negligence” that led to the death, such as providing access to a gun, according to Rosenthal.
Rosenthal said the legal theories that have been used may be difficult to prove in e-scooter cases. Prosecutors will have to prove that parents knew about the dangers of e-scooters when they allowed their children to ride them, and that firearms pose a “much easier threat to human life.”
“Is it reasonable to expect a child to kill someone?” Rosenthal said.