15-year old Boy Declared Brain-Dead After Being Struck by Hit-and-Run Driver in Echo Park, California

A hit-in-run in Echo Park on June 12, 2015, initially left a 15-year-old boy in critical condition. He was later declared brain-dead. (Credit: KTLA)

A 15-year-old boy was declared brain-dead Sunday as a result of injuries he suffered two days earlier, when he and a 13-year-old cousin were struck by a hit-and-run driver in Echo Park, authorities said.

The family of the older boy, Christian Donis, was at his bedside, said Rosa Saca, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, who confirmed the boy was brain dead.

Christian and his cousin, Adam Donis, were crossing Alvarado Street at Montrose Street, just south of Sunset Boulevard, about 10 p.m. Friday when the collision occurred, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

One of the teens may have grabbed the other, in an attempt to pull him from the vehicle’s path, before they were both hit, police said.

After the incident, Christian was transported to a hospital in critical condition, officials said. Adam, who sustained minor injuries, was also hospitalized.

A Toyota Venza compact SUV, similar to the one police were looking for in connection with an Echo Park hit-and-run, is seen in a file photo.

Witnesses described the vehicle to investigators as a white 2012-2014 Toyota Venza compact SUV. It was last seen fleeing northbound on Alvarado Street. No description of the driver was given.

A 28-year-old Tujunga man was arrested Saturday evening in connection with the collision, according to the LAPD. Details of the arrest were not disclosed.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call LAPD Central Traffic Division detectives at 213-833-3750, or the station’s watch commander at 213-833-3744.

Tips can be submitted anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.