Suspect surrenders in fatal Florence hit-and-run crash

FLORENCE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A suspect surrendered to Bell Gardens Police Friday afternoon in the fatal hit-and-run crash that killed a 4-year-old boy in Florence Thursday night.

Bell Gardens Police said that a 23-year-old male walked into the police department at 3:21 p.m. and said he was involved with the accident that killed 4-year-old Evan Butterfield. He was turned over to the California Highway Patrol, who said he is a person of interest.

The heartbroken mother of a 4-year-old boy killed in a hit-and-run in the Florence area earlier urged the driver to surrender.

"It happened so fast. Why him? So innocent, my son is gone," devastated mother Ronisha Butterfield said.

Butterfield says she will never forget what she saw Thursday night.

"All I see is them trying to revitalize him, like bring him back, but he was already dead," she said, sobbing.

Her 4-year-old son Evan was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver at the intersection of Holmes Avenue and Firestone Boulevard just after 7 p.m. Evan was in his stroller being pushed by his aunt, Brianna Puryear.

The driver of a red Toyota vehicle rammed into two cars at a red light and plowed through the intersection, throwing Puryear and dragging Evan about 150 feet.

Hazel Bee witnessed the crash and was one of the first to help.

"The car had (dragged) him from one intersection to another intersection. He was just bleeding real bad, and he was telling my friend to help him," Bee said.

The suspect ditched his vehicle a block after the collision, according to the CHP, and his female passenger was stopped by good Samaritans. The woman was cooperating with authorities.

Puryear remained hospitalized Friday but was expected to survive her injuries.

A vigil was scheduled at 8 p.m. Friday at the scene of the collision.