A 16-year-old boy was killed and his 14-year-old sister was seriously injured when a hit-and-run driver plowed into them as they crossed a Los Angeles street with their mother.
The crash happened around 9:35 p.m. Tuesday on 60th Street in the Hyde Park neighborhood, where the siblings were walking with their mom. The vehicle, a blue Nissan Sentra, was traveling eastbound when it struck both teens, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The impact was devastating. The Sentra then slammed into a parked car, but instead of stopping to help, the male driver and female passenger bolted on foot without identifying themselves or rendering aid, police said. The boy died at the scene. His younger sister survived but was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Jerome Alexander, a neighbor who lives in the area, told reporters he had seen the siblings before and believed they lived on the street. He described the chaotic aftermath he witnessed.
“I heard the sound, we went out there and the mom was screaming,” Alexander said. “I looked, I seen the other boy.”
He continued, “I walked right here, she hit this car. [They] jumped out and was running, and a dude came back and cleaned the car out for them.”
The Nissan Sentra was left wrecked at the scene, its front end mangled and its windshield shattered. A white sheet covered the boy’s body in the middle of the street as yellow police tape cordoned off the area. The sounds of sobbing filled the air while stunned neighbors gathered to stare at the horrific scene. Several people appeared visibly distraught.
Police have described the suspects as a male and a female, but neither had been apprehended as of the latest reports. The investigation remains ongoing.
The collision tore through a quiet residential neighborhood where residents knew the young victims by sight. The mother, who was with her children when they were struck, could be heard screaming in the moments after impact, according to Alexander’s account.
The hit-and-run adds to a grim pattern of pedestrian deaths in Los Angeles, where speeding and reckless driving have claimed numerous lives in recent years. The fact that both suspects fled on foot rather than face the consequences of their actions has compounded the tragedy for a family now shattered in an instant.
The LAPD continues to search for the two suspects. Anyone with information about their identities or whereabouts is urged to contact authorities.