Girl, 4, dies after hit and run
A 4-year-old girl was killed and another child was in critical condition at a local hospital Friday after they were struck, along with their mother, by a car that jumped the sidewalk on Civic Center Drive near Lake Mead Boulevard, North Las Vegas police said.
The mother and three children were walking north on the west sidewalk of Civic Center about 11:30 a.m. when the driver of a 1994 Honda Civic speeding south on the road lost control and careened onto the sidewalk, said police spokesman Sean Walker.
The mother and her 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were struck. All three were taken to University Medical Center.
Medical staff were unable to save the girl. The boy remained in critical condition late Friday and the mother was listed in serious condition. The third child was not injured, Walker said. Their identities were withheld by police.
After the wreck, the driver and a passenger in the car fled the scene on foot, Walker said.
Police soon began a manhunt for the two.
About an hour after the crash, the driver, Christian Cortes, 18, of North Las Vegas, turned himself in to police.
As dusk settled over the scene of the crash Friday evening, yellow and white spray paint marked the police investigation.
Lines on the ground showed the direction of the vehicle as it left the roadway, hit the sidewalk and crashed into a stop sign and tree across the street from the North Las Vegas government center. Blood stained some of the pavement and a used surgical glove was flattened on the ground.
Cortes was booked into the North Las Vegas Detention Center on one count of felony reckless driving resulting in death and two counts of felony reckless driving with substantial bodily harm. Cortes also was charged with three counts each of felony leaving the scene of an accident, felony failure to render aid, felony failure to report an accident, and one count of felony hit and run with property damage.
Police were still looking for the passenger Friday.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
