Jul 20, 2008 7:07 am US/Eastern
Arrest Made In Hit-And-Run Death Of 11-Year-Old
Flatbush Neighbor's Video Surveillance System Captured Final Moments Of Rondell Grant Jr.'s Life
NYPD Arrests 19-Year-Old, Charge Him With Leaving Scene
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
-
-
Residents in the neighborhood where 11-year-old Rondell Grant was run down on July 19 gathered for a candlelight vigil.
CBS
The sidewalk on the block where it happened in East Flatbush was crowded with candles Saturday night. The area residents were overwhelmed with pain after a hit-and-run tragedy claimed the life of 11-year-old Rondell Grant Jr.
"He was like my son," family friend Renee John said.
On Saturday afternoon police arrested 19-year-old Naquan Mandry and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident -- resulting in death.
The hit and run that killed Grant was caught by the video surveillance system from a neighbor's house.
The video shows the boy on the sidewalk of East 42nd Street. Cars race by and then the boy wanders into the street. He's struck moments later.
"When I saw it first thing this morning I cried a bit, got choked up," Neighbor Gregg Hawkins said.
The video belongs to Hawkins, who described Rondell as caring, athletic and joyful.
After hearing loud cars and curious to see what was happening outside on East 42nd Street just after 1 a.m. on Saturday, Grant ran out of his grandmother's house but never returned.
The boy was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he later died.
"He came out of his grandmother's to look and see how they come down the block and one come from nowhere with no lights and just...." neighbor Anitta Goodman said.
Residents along East 42nd Street say cars often race down the relatively quiet road. And when the boy was hit, engines could be heard.
"We heard cars like when they are floored," neighbor Linda Daniel said. "Like when they really put the metal to the floor."
But when Grant was struck by one of the three cars on the road none of the drivers stopped to check on the child.
"Whatever it was it kept going," Daniel said. "It was like the crash, child crying and then car speeding away."
But now that police have made an arrest, family members can come to grips with the loss of this little boy.
"His mother is a mess," Goodman said. "She can't talk to nobody. It hasn't hit her yet what happened."
"The father is over there in anguish," family friend Linda McInnis added. "His pain is real."
Hawkins said Rondell's family is not the only one suffering.
"He's a little boy and he won't see tomorrow no more," Hawkins said. "Family must prepare for a funeral for him. They shouldn't have to and the other boy is a kid himself. He's only 19. The police say and he's hurting, too."
Police say one car struck the boy, but three vehicles left the scene of the accident. Two are believed to be Hondas.
Though a suspect has been caught, this case is not closed, especially for neighbors who say speed bumps should be installed on busy East 42nd Street to force drivers to slow down.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
NYPD Probing Powder Sent To 3 NYC Consulates 29 mins ago 
Same Old Knicks Fall To 1-7 With Loss To Jazz 1 hr 46 mins ago
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments