Copyright dailymail
A mother has been left heartbroken after her 10-year-old son was run over and killed while he unlawfully crossed an intersection on an electric scooter, according to police. Marquis Abraha was fatally struck by a pickup truck while riding on a scooter with another boy in Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday around 2.50pm. The female driver slammed the car into the boys, who were not wearing helmets, leaving Abraha's body stuck 'under the truck,' his mother, Portia Wales said on GoFundMe. Abraha died at the scene while the other boy, a neighbor's nine-year-old son, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) said. The surviving child received the scooter for his birthday just two days before the incident. The driver remained at the scene after the collision and didn't show signs of impairment, according to authorities. Following his death, Wales has been left grieving her child who 'had a whole life ahead of himself.' 'It hurts, I can’t take it now, I feel the other mom's pain of what they went through,' the emotional mother told News 3 Las Vegas. 'My baby can’t come back, you took my life away from me. That was my life. He had a whole life ahead of himself. He was only 10.' Wales said she feels responsible for her son's tragic death because they were supposed to move back to Chicago, where the rest of their family lives. 'I blame myself sometimes. I wish I would have left on the 22nd. I wish I would have just left. He passed away a day after we were supposed to leave. Yes, I blame myself for that because I felt like I should have left on the 22nd,' she stated. She strongly believes drivers, including the one who hit her son and the other child, need to be more aware on the road. 'My son died during the process because he didn't have a helmet. Stop saying that, let's talk about the driver,' Wales told the outlet. 'Them kids love the scooters, they are going to try to take them from them, which is not their fault, it's the drivers, they drive crazy.' Lt. Cody Fulwiler with the LVMPD echoed her concern about speedy drivers, but also said parents need to speak with their children about riding electric devices. 'We as adults that have children need to talk to our kids when they are riding bicycles, e-scooters, e-bikes, we need to understand the capabilities of these devices, and we need to have those sit-down conversations with our children,' Fulwiler said at a press conference Thursday. 'On the flip side, we as adults operating vehicles, we need to slow down, we need to pay attention, we need to know where children may be riding these devices, may be walking to be more aware.' Wales is determined to make sure the community knows who her son was. 'I am not stopping, they have got the right one, by the time I am done, my son is going to be on one of them street signs, they are going to be saying make a right on marquis street in a minute, I am not going to stop, wherever he passed away at that is where his name is going to be at,' she explained. She described him as a true momma's boy who always wanted to be around her. 'If I had human glue, I would glue him to me by my side; he always wanted to go with me everywhere I go. I love you, he knows I love him, I don't even have to tell him that all the time, but I do, a kid needs to know they are loved, that is why I always told him that all the time,' Wales said. She's gone on to set up a donation page to help raise money for her to transport her son's body to Chicago so he can be laid to rest. As of Monday morning, more than $8,000 was raised. Meanwhile, a growing memorial has been set up at the scene of the tragic crash with mourners leaving flowers, balloons, stuffed animals and candles in memory of Abraham. A balloon release was also held on Saturday as members of the community, including Abraham's football teammates, gathered to honor him. Many of them wore their sports jerseys while others, including Wales, donned blue shirts with a picture of Abraham on them. The Clark County School District sent out an email on Wednesday addressing Abraham's death. 'My thoughts are with their loved ones, as well as every member of our community,' Lin Soriano, the principal of Cortez Elementary, where Abraham went to school, said. Since school began on August 11, 142 juveniles have been hit by vehicles, the school district said in the message, citing data from Clark County School District Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. About 35 percent of those incidents involved e-scooters or e-bikes, the district added. Abraham's death marked the fourth young child to be killed in Las Vegas this school year and the 130th traffic fatality this year, the LVMPD said. 'These are not just numbers. These are children, families, and lives cut short. Something has to change — and it starts with all of us,' the agency added. The Daily Mail contacted the Las Vegas Police Department for comment.
