A week after a hit-and-run crash that left a hit-and-run crash that left a 4-year-old boy dead in Hyde Park, the Boston Police Department is continuing to search for the person responsible.
The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. last Tuesday on Wood Avenue. The following day, police released surveillance images and said they were searching for a dark grey subcompact hatchback seen driving toward Cummins Highway.
Police shared a new image Tuesday of the vehicle being sought, which they now believe to be a grey Chevrolet Spark from between 2016 and 2022.
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Anyone with information is being asked to call the Boston Police Department's homicide unit at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can also be left by calling 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting "TIP" to 27463.
Police have not released the child's name, but family member Heroldy Limage identified the victim last week as his 4-year-old nephew, Ivan Pierre.
"Just come forward," neighbor Tara Gregory said Tuesday. "Whoever did it, please come forward so you can give that family some kind of peace."
Gregory took up a collection from neighbors to help the child's mother.
"I've buried a few family members," said Gregory. "Funerals are very expensive. I wanted to show her the community do care."
"It's very tragic," said neighbor Shaquille Johnson. "I sympathize with the family. If I had a nephew that was 4 years old, or a little brother, I can't fathom the pain."
Limage told NBC10 Boston last week that the family was gathered that night, getting ready to go outside to see a car that Ivan's mother had just bought, when they heard the crash.
"Honestly, if he even sees this, just turn yourself in," Limage said. "The least you could've done is just stop and check on the kid. That was too much for you to do. You know, help us by stopping this suffering. Bring yourself to the police and let them do their job."
Immediately following the crash, an off-duty firefighter who was in the area provided first aid to the child.
Police, along with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, held a news conference late Tuesday to discuss the fatal crash that claimed a young life and to also plead for help on the investigation.
"We need the help of anyone who has seen or heard or knows anything," Hayden said. "Law enforcement, the district attorney's office, mayor's office is going to do everything we can to gather the appropriate information that we can get to the public to hopefully assist us here."
"We beg of you, we need your help," he added.
Wu sent her condolences to the family.
"Its absolutely devastating to think about what transpired in just a split second," she said. "I'm also very grateful that a member of our Boston Fire Department immediately stopped off-duty and did what was possible to try and render first aid until EMS and other first responders arrived."
Trauma response teams will be in the area to provide support to people who need it following the deadly crash.
