Mother of 13-year-old killed in Colorado crosswalk wonders why "family has to pay horrible price for somebody's mistake"
Just weeks after losing her son, the mother of 13-year-old Alex Mackiewicz spoke out about the crash that killed him.
In photos, Mackiewicz may look like your average teenage Colorado boy, but his mom Victoria told reporters on Thursday he was anything but average.
"He was teenager. (He'd say) 'Mom don't kiss me when you drop me off, I'm a big boy now.' But would come home and hug and loved when I kissed his nose. He was a 13-year-old boy who looked tough in front of everybody, but he was just a kid," Victoria said.
On the morning of March 6 while riding his Onewheel to Mountain Ridge Middle School in Highlands Ranch, Alex was hit and killed after a driver ran a red light.
"You run the red light and it caused the death of an innocent child who did everything safe. Why the family -- why my boy -- has to pay the horrible price for somebody's mistake?" Mackiewicz said.
According to Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly, his office's investigation found that the teen was in the crosswalk with the walk signal when he was struck.
The driver, 52-year-old Ruben Morones, is now facing charges of careless driving resulting in death.
"The investigation is not done yet. It is still ongoing, and we have a lot of work to do. We want to ensure that the district attorney's office has every bit of information that they need to move forward on this case," Weekly said.
While remembering her son, Victoria also pointed to the growing number of traffic deaths across Colorado when calling for change, and a chance at justice for her son.
"Laws are really weak and unfortunately it's not tough enough and I don't see the justice for my little boy here," she said.
"No justice for the other boy who died back in October on the way to school. There's no justice. Give them the law to enforce. Give them a strong law to enforce," Mackiewicz said.
