A reckless driving murder suspect was in custody Monday in lieu of $1 million bail after a 14-year-old boy was killed falling from the back of the suspect’s moving pickup truck.
The dead boy was identified by a relative as Andrew Botello, according to news reports. The tragedy took place in the small Riverside County incorporated city of Jurupa Valley off the 60 freeway west of the city of Riverside.
The Jurupa Valley boy was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, Sgt. Raemie Wood said.
An investigation revealed the boy had been thrown from the back of a moving pickup truck, allegedly due to reckless driving, Wood said.
Deputies found the suspect — identified as Layn Meyer, 22, of Jurupa Valley — at his residence in the 4000 block of Scholes Avenue and arrested him Friday afternoon on suspicion of murder, Wood said.
Meyer is being held on $1 million bail, online inmate records show.
The incident was reported at 10:37 p.m. Thursday in the 7700 block of Lakeside Drive, Tawny Cabral of the Riverside County Fire Department said. It was there sheriff’s deputies found the boy lying in the roadway.
[symple_googlemap title=”Jurupa Valley death” location=” 7700 Lakeside Drive, Jurupa Valley, Ca” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
No other details were provided by authorities, including the reason the victim was in the bed of the pickup truck, if the suspect and victim were related or friends and what caused the boy to fall to the roadway.
–City News Service