Honor roll student identified as victim of possible road rage hit-and-run in Exposition Park
Family members continue to mourn the loss of the South Los Angeles teenager who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in what police believe was a road rage incident last week outside of BMO Stadium.
Jonathan Flores, just 16, was riding his bike with a group of friends in Exposition Park on Friday night when California Highway Patrol detectives say a driver accelerated towards them, striking and killing him.
They say that Justin was a great kid who did nothing to deserve dying the way he did. They're hopeful by getting his story out, someone will be able to come forward with information on the driver and turn him in.
Flores was in 11th grade at a South Los Angeles high school where he was both an athlete and an honor roll student, family members say.
"Tragedy number one: the fact that you have a teen, a loss of life," said Earl Ofari Hutchison, a well-known community activist during a press conference on Sunday. "The second tragedy: no one's come forward. Now, this is a busy area here. Many people saw something. No reports — nothing."
Investigators believe that the suspect followed the group of bicyclists into the parking lot after some sort of altercation just before killing Jonathan.
Hutchison says that deadly hit-and-run incidents like this, for which California leads the nation, should come with stricter penalties.
"So, it's really a warning. It could be your son or daughter, or anyone's son or daughter today or tomorrow. You have to be engaged. You have to be involved, we gotta get the killer off the street," he said.
Off camera, friends of Flores told KCAL News that he did nothing wrong, and that another of the bicyclists may have hit his car's side mirror. They say that the driver was a man with a goatee who was driving a black car that had a similar body type to a Honda.
Investigators say that car likely now has front end damage.
Late Sunday, California Highway Patrol officers reported that they had served a search warrant at a home in Los Angeles, where they seized two cars, a blue 2021 BMW sedan and a black 2018 Honda Accord, that they believe were evidence in the deadly incident.
"During the investigation, a 28-year-old ... male from Los Angeles was identified as a person of interest who is believed to have been the driver of the Honda Accord at the time it struck and killed the 16-year-old juvenile," CHP's release said.
They're urging the driver to turn himself in.
