An injured child is someone a parent runs to, not from .

That's not some friendly child-rearing guideline. It's instinct, and every parent of any worth knows it.

Apparently Miller Lee Smith Jr. didn't.

As a result of fleeing a Jefferson County traffic stop Nov. 6, Smith faces charges of vehicular homicide and DUI atop a list of 14 criminal charges. Police struggled to arrest Smith after finding him less than a mile from an accident scene where his 2-year-old daughter lay dead and his 3-year-old son lay dazed with broken bones.

They didn't find Smith at the crash site trying to make sense of it all. They didn't find a mourning father crouched over Alike Smith's small, lifeless body. They didn't find a desperate dad on the road's shoulder crying for help, begging any passing motorist to help give aid to his bruised and battered children.

Authorities found Smith in the woods off Middleground Road -- with enough presence of mind to try to elude police, but apparently lacking the humanity to act like a caring parent and remain with his injured family.

The litany of charges against Smith carry specific sentencing guidelines if he is found guilty. But the emotional and ethical ramifications of abandoning gravely injured children is beyond mere criminality. It sickens the soul.

No earthly law exists to completely mete out justice to punish that.