Fugitive grandmother arrested for alleged hit-and-run in which 18-month-old ran out excited to see her and was killed

Lisa G. Tesch fatally struck her granddaughter Eleanor Campbell, 18 months old, with a vehicle and sped from the scene, cops said. (Mugshot: Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections)

After almost a month on the run, police said they arrested the grandmother wanted for allegedly killing her toddler granddaughter with a vehicle before speeding away from the scene. Cops in Jeffersonville, Indiana, have been looking for Lisa G. Tesch, 51, since June. It turned out she was across the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. Police there announced her arrest on Facebook.

Tesch was taken into custody Friday afternoon on the Jeffersonville charges and also outstanding warrants from Kentucky, police said.

In her granddaughter’s death, she is charged with failure to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in death. She is also accused of a probation violation in Indiana for unrelated charges of resisting law enforcement by using a vehicle, possession of a narcotic drug, criminal recklessness, reckless driving at an unreasonable high or low speed so to endanger safety and possession of marijuana.

“Detectives from both sides of the river have worked tirelessly since that incident to bring Lisa Tesch to justice,” police wrote. “Information was developed that led detectives to the 200 block of Glendora Avenue, where they located Tesch and one of her family members, Joshua David and arrested them without incident. Both are in custody on unrelated outstanding warrants.”

The victim, Eleanor Campbell, 18 months old, died at Norton Children’s Hospital from her injuries. She had been at the Motel 6 on Hospitality Way in Jeffersonville on June 16 with her mother Cheyenne Allen and her mother’s boyfriend, according to WLKY. Speaking before police identified Tesch as the suspect, Allen told the outlet Eleanor darted out when the boyfriend opened the door.