A boy was killed and his mother injured after a 30-year-old suspect allegedly tried to carjack their car outside a Texas hospital over the weekend.
Zayden McLean was just weeks from his second birthday when the suspect, identified as Nico Lorenzo Dela-Fuente, attempted to steal the mother’s car around 9 p.m. on Oct. 4 at the parking lot of the Texas Health Huguley Hospital in South Fort Worth.
The boy’s mother, identified on a GoFundMe fundraiser as Bailey Bingham, was reportedly meeting with the father, Shea McLean, to exchange custody of their 1-year-old son when Dela-Fuente ambushed them, FOX 4 News reported, citing police.
After the suspect allegedly interrupted the family and managed to get into Bingham’s car in an attempt to steal it, the boy’s father also jumped inside the car to prevent him from driving away with it.
As the pair struggled inside the vehicle, Dela-Fuente allegedly put the car in reverse and backed into Bingham while she was holding her toddler son.
Fort Worth Officer Gezim Pollozani spoke with the Fox News affiliate to clarify the state of the investigation, explaining the mother was holding her son as “the vehicle was reversing and it struck the parent and the child, causing both the parent and the child to fall,” the official said.
Dela-Fuente then reportedly crashed the car into a tree after changing the transmission to drive and running over the child. Responding Fort Worth officers managed to take him into custody after an on-foot chase during which he tried to escape the robbery scene. He sustained severe injuries from crashing the car and collapsed while trying to run.
Zayden was rushed to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, but died due to his injuries.
Bingham is hospitalized in the ICU with a skull fracture, brain damage, and bleeding around her brain, according to Fox 4 News. She is expected to recover from the injuries.
The suspect also received treatment at an undisclosed hospital before being transferred to the Fort Worth jail with a $600,000 bond.
Dela-Fuente was charged with capital murder, carrying a bail of $500,000, and aggravated robbery, with bail reportedly set at $100,000 bail, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The suspect reportedly has a prior criminal record that includes DWI charges, as well as prior accusations for drugs and burglary.
A GoFundMe campaign created by a friend of Bingham in support of Zayden’s family to provide the boy with a proper funeral and pay hospital bills. It described him as “a child of love and spirit.”
“It is saddened with our hearts that this story has hit home,” the person close to the family wrote on the fundraiser.
“Anyone who knew Zayden knew how much he was loved by his mother, Bailey Bingham, and father, Shea McLean. He was a child of love and spirit. Everyone who knew him loved him, and that love will continue to carry,” the page reads.
