Boy, 10, killed in hit-and-run while walking to grandmother's home in Lake Elsinore

Rob McMillan Image
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Boy, 10, killed in hit-and-run while walking with family in IE
Authorities are investigating a hit-and-run that claimed the life of a 10-year-old boy who was walking with his family to his grandmother's home in Lake Elsinore.

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. (KABC) -- The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is investigating a hit-and-run that claimed the life of a 10-year-old boy who was walking with his family to his grandmother's home in Lake Elsinore.

Fighting back tears, 7-year-old Jaqueline Ochoa said she was with her mother and older brother Anthony on Tuesday night, crossing Sumner Avenue on Langstaff Street.

"We were walking to my grandma's house, and we saw the truck, but he was far away, not close to us, so we decided to walk," said Ochoa.

Police said they were in the crosswalk. The family said the driver of the pickup ran the stop sign. "And then he went fast and my brother went on top of the car on the front window," Jaqueline recounted.

That driver left the scene without stopping to help.

"When my brother was on top of his car he decided to stop for a little bit, but then he went fast and my brother hit the ground," said Jaqueline.

Anthony Ochoa was rushed to the hospital, but did not survive.

"He was always nice to me. He would help me with my homework, he was so nice," Jaqueline said of her brother.

Melissa Merida has started a Gofundme account to help raise money for the family. She said Anthony's mother is devastated.

"She felt that the truck kind of gunned it for her and didn't make a stop at all, and she was able to pull her, but not him, otherwise the truck would have taken both of them," Merida said.

Anthony was a third grader at Elsinore Elementary School, right across the street from where it happened.

Sheriff's deputies described the suspect's vehicle as a red Chevy truck with chrome rims and a broken windshield.