Silke Jasso
An allegedly drunk driver has been charged with murder, vehicular manslaughter and a DUI after striking and killing a 3-year-old boy as he and his family were attempting to cross the street at a crosswalk. The incident occurred in San Bernardino, Calif., last week, and the driver Crystal Fuentes, 34, was arrested at the scene.
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Fuentes, who had at least one prior drunk driving conviction, was driving on a suspended license at the time. The child, Michael Flores, was walking with his parents and siblings in a marked, push-button crosswalk with yellow lights flashing. Other vehicles had stopped to allow the family to cross when Fuentes reportedly sped around them at around 60 miles per hour and hit the little boy, who was walking slightly ahead of his family.
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“I saw the impact,” said Tommy Burnside, who was driving one of the cars that stopped at the crosswalk. “The bumper hit the child in the head.”
Fuentes had just been released from an overnight arrest on suspicion of public intoxication eight hours before the crash. She was also charged with drunk driving twice last year and has been charged with being drunk in public seven times within the last five years.
Crystal Marie Fuentes entered a not guilty pmea. She is being held on $1 million bail. pic.twitter.com/Rn9CQXmkVl
— Beatriz La Bruja 🎃 (@BeatrizVNews) May 2, 2017
The boy’s 9-year-old brother tried to save him, but was unable to reach him in time, saying, “I was going to try and get in front of Micheal to get him over here, but it was too late. They just hit him.”
“It hurts to have a 9-year-old see his brother leave like that,” the boys’ father said. “He was a wonderful boy. He was the best son out there that a mother and father could ever ask for.”
The family was reportedly homeless at the time of the incident and had just secured lodging at a Salvation Army. Michael, who would have turned 4 in June, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fuentes was in a green jumpsuit which usually signifies protective custody. pic.twitter.com/SspLBZp2Bn
— Beatriz La Bruja 🎃 (@BeatrizVNews) May 2, 2017
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