A 7-year-old boy died after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver Tuesday night in Fort Worth, police said.
The boy has been identified as Nelson Morales, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office.
Fort Worth officers responded at about 10:19 p.m. to the 3200 block of Comanche Street, police said. The child was in the street and was struck by the unknown vehicle, police said.
The driver fled the scene. Morales was transported to a local hospital where he died shortly before 11 p.m.
“So sad, tragic and unexpected. Never expected it to happen to him. He’s just a little boy, I was at the house. We don’t expect anything like that to happen to no one," said Christian Rivas, Morales' older brother.
Tuesday night, the boy's family was hosting a celebration of life for their grandmother, who died a week and a half ago. Morales was one of seven siblings.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“We had just come together to share a meal as a family in honor of my grandma," Rivas said.
The family was cleaning up from the event and Morales was playing tag outside with his cousins when the SUV him, Rivas said.
“That’s when I heard my little baby cousin screaming and yelling that he got ran over. We couldn’t believe it and took off running. Everything just happened so quick," he said.
Rivas said Morales had recently joined a soccer team and loved to play video games like Fortnite.
“He was a sweet young boy, he wouldn’t bother anyone. He would just get home from school and either play a little bit of soccer or kick the ball around," he said.
Neighbors living along Wichita Street, the cross street where Morales was hit, said speeding drivers is a problem in the area.
Andra Craig lives about a block from the crash scene. It's not uncommon for drivers to speed down Wichita Street at night, Craig said.
"This street, that street, the street behind me," he said, gesturing to nearby areas. "They just fly all the time."
Diego Roldan also lives along Wichita Street with his family and said drivers often appear to ignore the speed limit.
"It’s at an incline, so most people do tend to speed up a little bit," Roldan said, describing the street. "I don’t walk much, because there’s cars passing by at high speeds."
Both Craig and Roldan said they would like to see more patrolling by police in the area, so another tragic incident doesn't happen.
In response to the suggestion of patrolling, police said they encourage neighbors to contact their neighborhood police officer. They can also reach out to Fort Worth police directly on any of their social media accounts.
As for this open investigation, police confirmed that the vehicle that fled the scene was "a gray or silver" colored Toyota SUV. If you know anything or can help police locate the driver or vehicle, please call 817-392-4869.
Rivas has a message for the driver.
“I would just like for [them] to step up and be responsible for what [they] did," he said. "We understand that it was an accident, but the fact that [they] just left, and just left my baby brother unconscious. Not trying to help, it’s sad. We just ask you to step up. And pay for what you did.”
