The mother of a Michigan toddler who was struck and killed by a car said she is devastated after being told the driver will not face charges.
Jessica Fernandez said she has been left with unanswered questions after police decided not to push for criminal charges for the driver who killed her son, two-year-old Darwin Olson.
The boy was hit by a car at 5am outside his grandmother’s home in Ironwood, Michigan, on March 19, and pronounced dead at the scene.
Fernandez told KBTX that her son had been staying with her mother the evening before, but she woke up to a 7am phone call asking if she had already come to pick him up.
When Fernandez said no, she said her mother screamed over the phone and told her Darwin was missing.
She said she raced to her mother’s home, but was stopped by emergency barricades and police at the scene, and Fernandez said she knew it was her son.
‘I got out of the vehicle and I said, “Is he OK?” And (an officer) told me, “No, he’s not.” And I said, “Is he alive?” And he told me, “No,”‘ Fernandez recalled.
The Gogebic County Prosecutor’s Office said a review of the case found the child had been left ‘unattended,’ and images from the scene showed heavy snowfall across the area where the crash unfolded.
Two-year-old Darwin Olson was tragically killed on March 19 in Ironwood, Michigan, when a car struck him in the street at 5am outside his grandmother’s home
Darwin’s mother Jessica Fernandez said she has been left heartbroken after prosecutors declined to file charges against the driver who struck her son
This week prosecutors said they were declining to file charges against the driver, a move that Fernandez said has baffled her.
‘That’s the biggest thing is just I have all these questions, and it feels that no one wants to answer them for me,’ the mother said.
Fernandez said the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Office also did not reveal the driver’s identity to her, and only told her it was a man and what kind of car he drove.
The sheriff’s office disputed this to KBTX, and said a full police report with the driver’s identity was given to Fernandez’s attorney.
Gogebic County Sheriff Jorge Cruz said a comprehensive investigation was carried out, including ‘the circumstances in which the toddler was unattended.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the sheriff’s office for comment.
Darwin was hit by a car at 5am outside his grandmother’s home in Ironwood, Michigan on March 19, and was tragically pronounced dead at the scene
The Gogebic County prosecutor’s office said a review of the case found the child had been left ‘unattended’, and images from the scene showed heavy snowfall across the area where the crash unfolded
The decision not to charge the driver sparked outrage in the area, and a protest and candlelight vigil was held outside the Gogebic County courthouse
Prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges, and Fernandez said she was not satisfied with the explanation from officials.
‘Their words were that he didn’t think he could win the case,’ she said.
‘When I called, he had told me that they didn’t present anything criminal with my son’s case.’
The decision sparked outrage in the area, and a protest and candlelight vigil was held outside the Gogebic County courthouse.
Protesters were seen at the vigil with signs reading, ‘Justice for Darwin.’
Fernandez said she has been left heartbroken. ‘I just miss him all around,’ she said of her son.
‘I’ll never get to see those milestones or anything that you would hope to see when your child grows up.’
