PROVO, Utah — Police have arrested a driver who they say hit two young children in a Provo neighborhood Tuesday afternoon, killing one of them.
Provo Police said the woman didn't see the two children while driving a GMC Yukon through Brough Trailer Court, near 860 W. Columbia Lane, around 1:10 p.m. The kids were reportedly standing on the side of the road with their dad, who was fixing a bicycle, when they were hit.
Their parents rushed both child victims to a nearby hospital — but it was already too late for the 2-and-a-half-year-old, who was pronounced deceased. Her 4-year-old sibling was treated for their injuries and later said to be in stable condition.
The victims' family told FOX 13 News that the girl who died was named Claudia Isela Sandoval Martinez, and her brother's name is Esequiel Sandoval Martinez. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with medical and funeral costs in the wake of this tragedy.
Police said in an arrest report that they obtained video footage from a neighbor's home, which shows the Yukon "traveling quickly" before hitting the siblings. Claudia was run over, while Esequiel was able to move partially out of the way but was still hit.
Long-time resident Cindy Baxter said she was home at the time and actually heard the crash.
“And as I ran out to the road, the father was hysterical, and he started busting out the windows of this vehicle," she said in an interview with FOX 13 News. "I was trying to figure out what was going on, and then I look, and the 3-year-old little girl was on the ground, unconscious.”
Police later gave an update that they had arrested the driver, 28-year-old Nereyda Miranda, on suspicion of manslaughter. They said there was no impairment suspected, but said Miranda had trash bags on the hood and likely blocking her view out of the windshield. She told police that she was planning to dispose of the bags on her way out of the trailer park.
"Our heartfelt condolences are with their family," the Provo Police Department wrote in a release.
