AURORA, Colo. — A 16-year-old boy riding an electric scooter was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Aurora Friday night, according to the Aurora Police Department. A suspect has been arrested.
It happened around 11 p.m. at E. Wesley Drive and S. Dunkirk Street.
Police said the teenager, identified by his mother as Dimitri Markovic, was riding the scooter inside the bike lane heading northbound on E. Wesley Drive when he was hit from behind by a blue 2014 Dodge Charger traveling in the same direction.
Dimitri was conscious and breathing when he was transported to the hospital, but his condition declined rapidly, and he was later pronounced deceased, according to police.
The hit-and-run driver fled north on S. Dunkirk Street toward E. Jewell Avenue, police said.
The driver, identified by police as Davean Javon-James Jackson, 19, of Aurora, was arrested around 7 p.m. on Saturday.
He was being booked on charges of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death—a felony, as well as careless driving resulting in death, hit-and-run, and failing to report a collision to police, police said.
Tasha Hill, Dimitri's mother, told Denver7 that the 16-year-old was returning from hanging out with his friend when he was struck.
"We were with him just a few minutes before the accident. I just, I didn't know that it was gonna be the last time we saw him," his friend told Denver7.
Hill described Dimitri as a kindhearted, music-loving teen.
"He was the sweetest kid ever. He loved his rock and roll. He loved cars. He was an avid guitar player, self-taught future rock star or truck driver, if you asked him," Hill said. "He had the biggest heart in the world. He loved everyone, and anyone who knew him loved him too."
Hill hopes the person who took her son will be held responsible, calling the driver’s actions cold and reckless.
"I don't know what kind of savage would take that out of this world, so carelessly, so recklessly, so cold heartedly, and not stick around to help him," she said. "How could you live with yourself? How could you go home?"
Jackson was arrested at his home in Aurora after police said two teenagers contacted them after seeing reports of the crash and provided a detailed description of the suspect vehicle.
That description helped police track the vehicle's location using MESH and Flock cameras. It was found abandoned at a Denver apartment complex.
Dimitri’s death was one of three fatal hit-and-run crashes in the metro area that same night, including incidents in Denver and Westminster.
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