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The driver who allegedly hit and killed a three-year old boy outside a daycare centre and drove off has handed herself in.
The 73-year Heathcote Junction woman surrendered to police in the northern suburbs of Melbourne just after 9.30am after a desperate appeal by detectives for the mystery driver to come forward.
Ethan Nguyen was struck in front of his ‘distraught’ mother and a number of other witnesses on McIntyre Rd in Sunshine North, Melbourne‘s west, at about 6:30pm on Thursday.
His heartbroken family gathered at the site of the accident on Friday morning, to pay tribute to the ‘sweet boy’.
‘He ran off into the street, his mother told him to stop. He stopped in the middle of the road and the car came and hit him,’ Ethan’s grandmother told Herald Sun as she broke down in tears.
A witness on Friday told Daily Mail Australia the vehicle that hit the child braked immediately after the accident, but quickly drove off.
The little boy ran from the home with the red roof (left) directly onto the busy road near the traffic lights
Barber Saad Alyoshik claimed the driver who hit the boy braked after the collision but failed to stop
The child was struck in front of his ‘distraught’ mother and a number of other witnesses on McIntyre Rd in Sunshine North, Melbourne ‘s west, at about 6:30pm on Thursday (scene pictured, with a single shoe left in the middle of the road)
Graphic CCTV footage from a nearby shop showed the boy being dragged by a red sedan for a couple of metres as his mother rushed to his aid.
Emergency services rushed to the scene immediately and desperately tried to treat the boy’s life threatening injuries. He was taken to hospital where he later died.
Barber Saad Alyoshik said his colleague desperately tried to stop the boy from running across the busy road.
Positioned directly opposite where the tragedy unfolded, Mr Alyoshik said he watched on in horror as they boy bolted out of a garage and towards the road.
‘He’s coming on the road, he was running and then the car hit, he didn’t see him, he hit him and then he run away. It’s very bad,’ he said.
‘My business owner he say ‘stop, stop’. We see the boy when he comes there and he’s a little boy, he never heard or doesn’t understand. That’s why.
‘And then I saw the accident … I think someone opened the garage and he was just running.’
Mourner places flowers at the scene of the little boy’s death
Mr Alyoshik claims the car that hit the little boy braked after the collision before driving off.
‘Not stop exactly, just like, not stop, but hit him and after than run away,’ he said.
Mr Alyoshik described the chaos in the moments after the tragedy.
‘After that, just too many people looking for him. His mother was very bad, I can’t talk,’ he said choking back tears.
‘I was shaking. I was scared.’
Mr Alyoshik said it took police up to 15 minutes to arrive at the scene.
‘But too late I think. I don’t know. After 10 minutes (they) come or 15 minutes. Should be come straight away like two, three minutes because little boy,’ he said.
Superintendent John Fitzpatrick said damage located on the elderly woman’s car indicated she was indeed the person who had hit and killed the child.
A three-year-old boy is dead after being mowed down by a hit-and-run driver in front of a daycare centre as police hunt for the person behind the wheel (scene pictured)
CCTV footage taken from the scene shows the car travelling through the area
‘That woman is currently assisting with our inquiries,’ he said.
The superintendent said the incident had been observed by multiple witnesses.
‘We’ve got quite a few others to talk to through our CCTV cameras, but yeah we have people assisting us,’ Superintendent Fitzpatrick said.
Detectives believe speed had not played a factor in the tragic accident.
‘There was pretty heavy traffic along that road at that time of the night. So we’re certainly not alleging that that car was travelling over the speed limit,’ Superintendent Fitzpatrick said.
However, police now believe the woman did in fact know that she had struck the child before driving off.
‘Having a quick look at the vehicle it’s pretty evident that you would know that you have hit something. Whether that driver knew that they’d hit a child or something else is still to be determined.’ Superintendent Fitzpatrick said.
Officers from Victoria’s Major Collision Unit scoured the crime scene overnight, cordoning off the busy road and knocking on the doors of nearby homes and businesses asking for CCTV vision of the incident.
A child’s shoe lay in the middle of the road as police examined the scene.
A witness claimed the boy dashed out of this garage after someone opened it. He ran directly into the path of a car, which failed to stop after hitting him
On Friday, locals attending the strip of shops across the road from the tragedy expressed their grief.
‘It’s such a busy road. The poor kid,’ one man told Daily Mail Australia.
On woman was seen laying flowers at the scene.
Superintendent Fitzpatrick said the child was hit by the car’s front right-hand side, which left damage on the car’s bonnet.
‘That child certainly has been dragged under the car for some distance. What it is we are unable to determine, but it’s certainly not hundreds of metres. Between 20-30 metres,’ he said.
The child was taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital, but died about midnight.
Superintendent Fitzpatrick said the child’s family was overwhelmed with grief.
Detectives are now desperately searching for the driver of a red Toyota Camry urging the motorist to ‘hand themselves in’ (scene pictured)
‘We’ll provide them with all of the support and welfare that they need from our perspective, but they currently have family and friends around them,’ he said.
‘But as you can imagine, losing a beautiful young child like that is going to be devastating and they’re going to be like this for a little while. ‘
Police believe the child simply broke free from his mother and dashed onto the road.
‘In this case it seems pretty unavoidable, but again we need to be always vigilant around our circumstances, paying attention because at the very slightest moment you can be confronted with things,’ Superintendent Fitzpatrick said.
Anyone who witnessed the incident, has dashcam footage or any other information that could assist police with their enquiries is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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