LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — We're learning more details surrounding the hit-and-run that killed 12-year-old Cristofer Suarez in the northwest valley on Friday.
Channel 13 recently learned the identity of Suarez through a GoFundMe fundraiser organized by the Suarez family.
Channel 13 also received an arrest report detailing what police believed to have happened near East Owens Avenue and 21st Street on Friday, Oct. 3.
READ MORE | Community calls for safer roads after local middle school student is killed by suspected DUI driver
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the suspect, 27-year-old Oh' Ryan Marshawn Brooks, struck Suarez between two flashing yellow school zone lights.
Suarez was crossing Owens Avenue "in an implied crosswalk within an active school zone," when Brooks struck Suarez with a 2019 white Mitsubishi SUV. Brooks failed to slow or stop and made no attempts to contact emergency services, according to Metro Police.
Through a plate reader and Flock Camera systems, police were able to locate Brooks and his apartment. When police arrived at Brook's home, they noted that the suspect's Mitsubishi had extensive damage on the front-right of the SUV, consistent with a vehicle-pedestrian collision, the report states.
Shortly after, police were able to locate Brooks, who admitted that he was the driver of the SUV and was involved in a crash on East Owens Avenue, but didn't know what he had hit. Brooks also stated that he inhaled THC from his vape between 6 to 7 a.m. while getting his kids ready for school.
According to Metro, police observed that Brooks was swaying from side to side and slurring his words. Officers then conducted several field sobriety tests and determined Brooks was impaired. Police also took evidentiary blood samples for toxicology testing.
According to the report, one witness said she "saw a white SUV speeding on Owens Avenue and hitting the child."
Evidence at the scene of the crash— a silver trim piece with engravings for a 2016-2022 Mitsubishi Outlander side molding—appears to indicate a match to the white Mitsubishi SUV Brooks was driving.
In an interview with Brooks, Brooks states that he was dropping off his girlfriend's kids at school and remembered the sun was in his eyes and felt a loud bang. He said, "he stopped at a nearby apartment to look at the car. He then left the area to return to the apartment," the report states. Brooks also stated that another car "came out of nowhere," causing the crash.
Brooks was charged with DUI resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, reckless driving and duty to stop at the scene of the accident and was booked into Clark County detention Center.
Brooks is scheduled to be in court on Tuesday morning.
A non-profit is organizing a rally for change at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning at the intersection where Suarez was hit.
