No jail over jaywalking son's death

An American woman convicted after her four-year-old son was killed in a hit-and-run accident while the family crossed a busy road has been spared time in jail after more than 125,000 people signed a petition urging the judge to take pity on the grieving mother.

Raquel Nelson, 30, was convicted of "vehicular homicide" earlier this month after her son AJ was hit by a van in 2010 while they were walking across a motorway away from a designated crossing – a crime known as jaywalking in the United States.

She had faced up to three years in jail, but on Tuesday, she was given a year's probation, 40 hours of community service, and the offer of a new trial.