Community wants justice after child killed following multi-vehicle crash in North Las Vegas
A teen is behind bars, and another suspect is on the loose following a deadly crash in North Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon.
12-year-old Yelina Tarango has died as a result of the multi-vehicle crash[1] at the intersection of East Carey Avenue and Belmont Street.
North Las Vegas Police say 19-year-old Alfredo Cabrera Jr. was arrested[2] at the scene.
He is facing a charge of reckless driving resulting in death, which is a felony.
Another suspect is still on the run, and his identity is unknown, according to North Las Vegas Police.
Richard Galterio, who lives right in front of where the four-vehicle crash happened, says he is devastated by the death of the little girl.
"A human life, a child, you know, it's hard to fathom," said Galterio.
Police say an Escalade and a Camaro were driving recklessly when the Escalade crashed into a pickup truck, then hit an SUV and spun out of control, hitting Yelina while she was on the sidewalk.
Galterio rushed out of his home when he heard a loud bang outside.
"Like an explosion," he said. "I didn't hear no squeaking of tires or nothing. Like an explosion."
That's when he says he saw one of the suspects.
"I saw the guy running down our street and jumped the wall at the end of the street," Galterio told News 3.
Afterward, he says he saw an image he can't forget.
"I didn't know there was a little girl laying there until the dust cleared," said Galterio. "I walked up to her, and everybody was saying, 'Don't touch her. Don't touch her.' She was still breathing. And she passed right there before my eyes."
While Cabrera, who was driving the Camaro, is behind bars, police say the driver of the Escalade is still on the loose.
And one family is grieving its little girl.
"My condolences to the family," said Galterio. "And we should hope this doesn't happen to anyone again, especially children."
The area where the incident happened is popular with food traffic, with people stopping by the local mart.
It's where News 3 stopped to speak with Devon, who was walking with her baby girl, who was in a stroller.
"What if that was me and my daughter going to the store to get some milk or to get a snack or something like that?" she said. "That could have been us, you know? Yeah, it resonates."
As investigators continue to uncover why this all happened, Devon and Galterio say there are traffic issues in the area they want fixed.
"If you stand here, you can actually see the car just slow down and stop. And some of the cars don't stop at all," said Galterio. "I myself personally have told the cops many, many times."
"I get up in the middle of the night and get a glass of water or change my daughter's diaper or something, and you can hear the cars going up and down the street," said Devon. "I'm just like, you know, what are you doing that for?"
While the community comes up with solutions, Devon pleads for justice for Yelina's family.
"It was definitely not worth it," she said. "Whatever was going on, whatever happened to cause that accident and what caused the death of a young person, was definitely wrong."
Right now, North Las Vegas Police say they are still investigating the motive behind the reckless driving.
They are also searching the area for surveillance videos so that they can get the public's help.
As far as the complaints from the community about the driving in that area, North Las Vegas Police said in a statement:
Our Traffic Unit is always responding to areas of concerns throughout the city as a whole. They respond to those areas where they can be more visible, do proactive enforcement, and interact with the neighbors about the concerns.
We encourage the community that if they feel there is an increase in poor and unsafe driving to contact the NLVPD to report these areas or they can submit a concern online to our Traffic Unit.
The online submission form can be located here, cityofnorthlasvegas.com/our-city/contact-us[3].
References
- ^ https://news3lv.com/news/local/juvenile-pedestrian-dead-after-multi-vehicle-crash-in-north-las-vegas-suspect-at-large# (news3lv.com)
- ^ https://news3lv.com/news/local/1-driver-arrested-in-deadly-north-las-vegas-crash-facing-reckless-driving-charge# (news3lv.com)
- ^ https://www.cityofnorthlasvegas.com/our-city/contact-us (www.cityofnorthlasvegas.com)