Images Released of Hit-and-Run Driver who Killed 3-year Old Boy

On Sunday, May 22, 2016, 3-year old Ethan Hernandez Maldonado was tragically killed after being struck by vehicle around 5 p.m. at an intersection on the 5700 block of Cameron Road near Clayton Lane in East Austin. Ethan was taken to Dell Children’s Hospital where he died a short time later. The driver fled the scene. The police are still looking for the driver, but images of the hit-and-run driver were caught on a surveillance camera.

Police released images of the hit-and-run driver and need the public’s help locating him. The driver was driving a 2000s white and tan Chevy Silverado 2500 with red ladder in the back. It is possibly missing a rear brake light. He was described as an older man and there was a white cowboy hat on the dashboard. Police say the vehicle was at the intersection of westbound Briarcliff and Cameron. He turned south on Cameron where he struck Ethan and dragged him under the truck. Ethan was walking legally with his family in the crosswalk of the intersection and had the right-of-way.

Julia Ortiz, who lives near the intersection, told KXAN NBC that she recognizes the truck because she sees it pass her house every morning and night, but she hasn’t see the truck in several days. Recognizing the cowboy hat on the dash, Ortiz told KXAN, “That’s what’s telling me that’s the man right there.”

Austin Police Department is asking that if anyone has any information about this hit-and-run case, the driver, or his whereabouts to contact Austin Vehicular Homicide Unit Detectives at (512) 974-6935.