‘Just turn yourself in’
4-year-old killed by hit-and-run driver
Four-year-old Ivan Pierre was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Hyde Park Tuesday night.
“On a warm, summer day, this is just a horrible tragedy that has taken place,” Mayor Michelle Wu, her voice wavering with the weight of the moment, said during a press conference at the scene at around 11:40 p.m. “We urge everyone just to be vigilant, whether you are driving, whether you’re out and about, of how much can change in just a split second.”
Boston Police Superintendent Gregory Long said the child was in the area of 165 Wood Ave., near the intersection with Tacoma Street, at around 9:30 p.m. “when the suspect motor vehicle struck him, did not stop, and fled the area.”
The child’s name was Ivan Pierre, according to his uncle Heroldy Limage, who spoke with reporters outside the family home and urged the driver responsible to “Just turn yourself in.”
“I used to have two nephews, and now it’s down to one,” Limage said, as he was overcome with emotion, according to video of the interview released by WBZ.
Limage said the whole family was downstairs looking at a new car just before the incident, and that “I think that’s when my nephew snuck out and nobody really saw.”
An off-duty Boston firefighter ran to Pierre’s body and did all he could to render first aid before Boston EMS arrived and then transported him to Boston Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Long said. Police were canvassing the area for any possible witnesses or security footage that could provide investigators a clue for who is responsible.
Long noted that “clearly efforts were taken” in the neighborhood to prevent such a horrific event, with one nearby sign reading “Act like your child lives here.”
“Obviously this is an extremely tragic situation this evening and our thoughts and prayers go to this child, this child’s family and this community that unfortunately had experienced this traumatic event,” Long said.
He and Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden urged anyone with any information to contact Boston homicide detectives at 617-343-4470 or to provide anonymous information to the CrimeStoppers Tip Line by calling 1-800-494-TIPS (8477) or texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).
“We are here tonight with very heavy hearts. A family has suffered a terrible loss with a boy so young,” Hayden said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them and this community and we just beseech this entire community’s help.”