San Clemente boy, 8, killed in off-road race crash in Mexico

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- An 8-year-old San Clemente boy was struck and killed by a truck that crashed during a weekend off-road race in Mexico.

The boy, Xander Hendriks, is the son of a youth pastor at Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente. The church published a post to Facebook about the tragic incident, asking for prayers for Xander's parents, Brandon and Melissa Hendriks.

Xander and his mother were hit by a truck while standing next to the course during the SCORE Baja 500 race in Ensenada on Saturday. The boy was killed, while Melissa Hendriks was hospitalized in stable condition. A third person was also hurt.

The truck was driven by Todd Pederson, CEO of the Utah-based home security company Vivint. Pederson says he crashed when he failed to negotiate a turn.

Pederson was released Sunday after questioning by authorities, Juan Manuel Yepiz, spokesman for the State Attorney's office in Ensenada, Baja, told the Deseret News.

The CEO said in a statement that he's devastated and his heart goes out to the family.

A GoFundMe page was created to help with medical expenses and support for the Hendriks family. It had already raised more than $70,000 by Tuesday afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.