COLUMBUS, Ohio — The suspect wanted for the fatal hit-and-run of a 4-year-old in South Franklinton Saturday night turned himself in Sunday morning, according to the Columbus Division of Police.
Franklin County Municipal Court records revealed officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop around 8:55 p.m. Saturday after seeing a 2015 Kia Soul that was reported stolen driving around the Southpark Apartments on Greenfield Drive.
According to court records, the driver of the vehicle, 24-year-old Tyrell Shute, fled the traffic stop and continued driving recklessly through the complex.
Shute reportedly drove over the curb at the north end of the parking lot and onto a grassy area in the 700 block of Canonby Place. Columbus police told 10TV that a woman was outside with her 4-year-old boy when the Kia, driven by Shute, struck her child.
Police said Shute left the vehicle and fled the scene on foot before officers arrived.
Officers in the area transported the child to Nationwide Children's Hospital, and the 4-year-old was pronounced dead at 9:39 p.m.
Police say they received a call from Shute shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday, he told officers that he wanted to turn himself in and was at a residence in the 800 block of Lock Avenue in the Greenhill Acres neighborhood. Officers went to the residence and were able to take Shute into custody without incident.
A woman who lives nearby where the crash occurred said she’s lived there for six months and doesn’t feel safe. She asked to not have her name shared for safety reasons.
"I wouldn't raise a kid here. I'm hoping to get mine out as soon as possible… we've had a murder-suicide, lots of shootings, lots of stolen vehicles, break-ins,” the mother said.
The mother said her 17-year-old daughter witnessed Friday night’s incident.
"[She] called me and said, ‘Mom, a baby got hit, a baby got hit,’ and I just went running thinking it was one of mine,” the mother said.
As a mom of seven, the woman said she panicked.
"My 8-year-old has mental health [issues] so he runs off a lot and that could've been him. That's his go-to place to hide is right where that baby got killed,” the mother said.
Despite more than a dozen police officers at the scene, she said the danger continued.
"In the middle of all this, somebody started shooting in the very back while the police were already out here so everybody was just like all over the place,” the mother said.
The crime and violence in the neighborhood have forced her to have serious conversations with her kids.
"I tell them like you know if you hear gunshots and you're awake get down flat,” the mother said.
Now, the mother said she’s working to save up enough money to be able to move elsewhere to keep her family safe.
"It's really not even worth the low-income rate, because, in the meantime, you're risking your life walking out your door,” the mother said.
Shute has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide in connection to the incident.
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