GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A 3-year-old boy wandered out of his Lawrenceville apartment before the sun came out and was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver, according to police.
Lawrenceville police said officers responded to a missing child call around 5:13 a.m. at an apartment complex on East Crogan Street.
While searching the area, officers found the boy lying in the road on Winder Highway near Stanley Court.
The child died at the scene.
A GoFundMe set up by the family identified the boy as Maxence and described him as “a bright light in the lives of his family, full of curiosity, laughter, and a joy that filled every room he entered.”
“The silence left behind is overwhelming, and his family’s hearts are broken beyond words,” the family wrote.
Investigators identified the suspect vehicle as a blue 2008 Honda CR-V. Officers tracked the driver to a nearby warehouse where he had continued working after the crash, police say.
Police arrested 67-year-old Rohitbhai Patel of Snellville and charged him with felony hit-and-run and second-degree vehicular homicide.
Neighbors who live near the crash site said drivers regularly speed through the area without stopping for pedestrians.
“They don’t stop for pedestrians, and especially at that park over there, there’s a lot of people that walk by,” said Nicholas Mitchell-Warner, who lives nearby.
Another neighbor, Makayla Mitchell-Warner, said the loss has been difficult to process.
“That actually breaks my heart, because it’s something that could have been avoided,” she said. “We need more empathy in this world.”
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