Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a driver who police say was responsible for the crash that killed a 15-year-old Lakewood High School student as he waited for a bus in East Long Beach.
Police say the wreck happened around 3 p.m. June 11 when 20-year-old Jacob Bustillos, of Compton, was speeding behind the wheel of a 2010 Infiniti G37. Investigators allege he ran a red light at the intersection of Carson Street and Palo Verde Avenue, where he struck a Toyota Prius.
The impact caused the Infiniti to skid and roll over onto the northwest sidewalk on Carson Street, where Carlos Ramirez was sitting at a bus stop, police said.
Bystanders who saw the crash hurried to help Ramirez, holding his hand and providing words of comfort before he was rushed to a hospital, Ramirez’s mom, Monica Gonzalez, previously told the Long Beach Post.
Police said Bustillos was also taken to a local trauma center for treatment of injuries he suffered in the crash.
On Aug. 12, the Los Angeles County District Attorney filed a felony charge of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence against Bustillos and requested a warrant for his arrest.
As of Friday morning, Bustillos remained out of custody, said a spokesperson for the DA’s office.
If convicted, Bustillos could face up to 6 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Ramirez’s friends and family remembered him as a quiet but driven boy who wanted to enlist in the military after graduation.
Ramirez had his grandfather’s curly hair, but towered over him and the other men in the family, even at just 15 years old, according to his mom. His two younger siblings often climbed on him like a playground in the living room.
Ramirez’s 8-year-old brother has taken his loss the hardest, Gonzalez said.
He still refuses to go into Ramirez’s room and recently told Gonzalez, “I didn’t get a chance to play with him more.”
With school starting again at Lakewood High School, Gonzalez said the grief has come in waves.
She didn’t get to take Ramirez’s first-day-of-school picture. This week, she saw students dressed in their Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, the same one that Ramirez — a JROTC member — was buried in.
Gonzalez said she was glad to hear of the criminal charge being filed. Last she had heard, police told her it was in the hands of the DA.
“In the back of my head, that was just killing me that there was a chance that there wasn’t going to be any justice for my son,” Gonzalez said.