Teen killed in hit-and-run identified; police investigating 2 other hit-and-runs in South LA

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Friends have identified a teen that was hit and killed early Sunday morning in South Los Angeles.

16-year-old Hayden Neighbors of Los Angeles was with friends just before 2 a.m. Sunday in the 9800 block of San Pedro Street when he was struck.

Surveillance video shows Neighbors riding a pocket bike northbound San Pedro Street, north of 99th Street, when a driver of a dark colored Toyota Corolla crashed into him.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the suspect ran off and left the vehicle.

Neighbors was pronounced dead at the scene.

Devastated friends described Neighbors as a happy, kind person.

"Hayden was a very kind person. He always had a smile on his face. He loved to ride mini bikes. He liked to be outside," said Leandra Salazar.

"He was always positive," said Carl Henderson.

There were two other fatal hit-and-runs in South Los Angeles last weekend.

A woman was struck and killed on Normandie Avenue and 66th Street at around 10 p.m. Saturday, according to the LAPD.

An Eyewitness, who did not want to be identified, said she saw it all happen.

"We were telling her to get out of the street and she wasn't listening to us," she said. "We were on our way to stop traffic and try to help her off the street, a car came and just smacked her."

"She went up in the air and then when she hit the ground she rolled about 10 times until she hit the car," she added.

A few candles and the black blanket the Eyewitness said she and some others covered the woman with while they waited for paramedics to arrive, were still on the street.

A third deadly hit-and-run happened Sunday. A woman in her 50s was struck and killed near the intersection of Main and 73rd streets.

According to LAPD statistics, there have been 105 hit-and-runs in South Los Angeles so far in 2025, up from the 99 in February of 2024.

"Hit-and-runs are rarely solved as cases and part of that is the police departments, especially the traffic divisions, are incredibly understaffed," said Damian Kevitt, from the advocacy group SAFE, Streets are for Everyone.

Anyone with information regarding any of the three fatal hit-and-runs is urged to contact the LAPD.