AURORA | Police say tips from the community and strategic investigation led to the arrest of a man suspected of a fatal hit-and-run crash Friday night that killed a 16-year-old boy riding his scooter in a marked bike lane on a southeast Aurora suburban street.
“Daveon Javon-James Jackson, 19, of Aurora, was arrested shortly before 7 p.m. tonight by members of our Traffic Investigations Unit,” Aurora police spokesperson Joe Moylan said in a statement Saturday night. “He is currently being booked on charges of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, a felony, as well as careless driving resulting in death, hit-and-run and failing to report a crash to police, traffic infractions.”
Police credited calls from the community and a rigorous police investigation in identifying Jackson as a suspect, who investigators said drove a 2014 Dodge Charger.
Officers were called to the area of East Wesley Driver and South Dunkirk Street at about 11:15 p.m. after reports of a hit-and-run victim on the street and critically injured.
“When officers arrived at the scene, they located a 16-year-old boy who was conscious and had sustained serious injuries in the crash.,” Aurora Police spokesperson Joe Moylan said in a statement. “The teen was taken to a local hospital for treatment, where his condition declined rapidly. He died shortly after arriving at the hospital.”
A preliminary investigation revealed that the boy was riding his scooter north on Wesley in the bike lane and was approaching Dunkirk “when he was hit from behind by a (then-unknown) vehicle traveling the same direction,” Moylan said.
Police said the driver then sped off, likely driving north on Dunkirk toward East Jewell Avenue.
“Residents in the area reported to police they heard a vehicle with a loud exhaust speed from the scene about the time the fatal auto-pedestrian crash occurred, Moylan said.
Police asked residents in the area to check their outdoor security cameras between 11:15 p.m. and 11:20 p.m. for possible video showing details of the hit-and-run crash.
Police were able to identify and arrest Jackson less than 20 hours after the crash.
“The swift arrest in this case is a credit to our officers and detectives who conducted a thorough and tenacious investigation in pursuit of the person responsible for the tragic and senseless loss of a young member of our community,” Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said in a statement. “If not for the critical information provided by local residents and our ability to leverage video technology through the Aurora Police Department’s Real-Time Information Center, this very well could have been a case of another life lost without justice.”
Police said two teenagers in the area saw reports of the fatal crash in local media and contacted investigators.
“The teens provided a detailed description of the suspect vehicle, which they said they observed speeding through the neighborhood about the time of the crash,” Moylan said.
That description was relayed to the police department’s “Real-Time Information Center” who used “camera technology” to determine that the vehicle linked to the fatal crash was, indeed, a 2014 blue Dodge Charger, Moylan said. With that information, investigators were able to “backtrack” the route of the car, determining where it exited Aurora and entered Denver.
“Patrol and traffic officers and investigators launched an exhaustive search for the vehicle, ultimately locating it abandoned in a parking lot of a Denver apartment complex,” Moylan said.
”Officers determined the vehicle was registered to an Aurora address. Detectives responded to that address where they located and arrested” Jackson.
As of Sunday, Jackson was being held at the city’s detention center.
Police said anyone with information can call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and still be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000, police said.
All you had to do, Daveon, is stop and render what first aid you could and call 9-1-1 to get paramedics on scene. Could EMS care started earlier have saved the boy’s life?
Was the boy wearing any reflective clothing to make himself more visible to motorists at that time of night? Did the scooter have lights?
Thank you, Aurora detectives and officers and also citizens who helped.
Sincere condolences to the boy’s family.
Can we get this driver’s criminal trial reassigned to a Judicial District where murderers actually punished? DA Padden will just want to give him a cookie and hug– just like the last vehicular murderer. Her recall election can’t arrive soon enough.
Daveon did not murder. Accident. Was Daveon looking at his cell phone?
Horrible if Daveon’s fleeing instead of calling 9-1-1 resulted in EMS care beginning later and the 16-year-old dying when he could have survived.
Democrat DA in Aurora will let him go to murder again. Thats what she does.