It’s been nearly two months since five-year-old Emilio was killed after a driver hit him without their headlights on and drove away.
The crash happened near the intersection of E. 9th Street and Dolomite Circle.
The family is still grieving from the crash and are wanting justice for their Emilio who was taken far too soon.
“I still wake up in the mornings and I still feel that it's not true," said Yosavel Elias, mother of Emilio.
On August 17, it was a random summer Tuesday for the community near E. 9th Street.
All the neighborhood kids were playing outside.
"We were sitting outside with them but he was playing with his friends one of them kicked the ball and my son decided to go for the ball,” Elias said.
Shortly after, a car without its headlights on came through the neighborhood, hitting and eventually killing Emilio.
"All I heard was the impact that night and my daughter yelling and that's when I saw my son and I knew he was gone," Elias said.
They say time heals all wounds, but the crash is still feel fresh.
"I'm dealing with four smaller personalities and mine at the same time I feel emotionally disconnected to my kids because they're all grieving in their own way and so am I,” she said.
Elias says she has not heard from the detective on this case.
Reno Police does have the suspected car in its possession.
Officers do have a person of interest.
"(We) have developed enough interest to push forward a request for a warrant and that is now sitting with the District Attorney,” Lieutenant Tom Yturbide, Reno Police Department said.
The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office says they are reviewing the request.
"That's all I need is answers and hope my baby gets justice,” Elias said. “He was only a five-year-old chasing after a ball. He didn't deserve it. And for the person who did it to just drive away, like if my son was nothing."
The mother is pleading with drivers to be more cautious when driving.
"Just keep in mind that there's so many children,” she said. “And where there's a kid, there's a ball. There's always a child that's going to be chasing after a ball.”
Elias, like many others in the community, are advocating for change.
Directly after the tragedy, the neighborhood gathered on Thursdays for a ‘walk for change’.
In 2019, two kids were hit at the intersection of E. 9th Street and Manhattan Street due to sun glare messing with the driver’s vision.
We wanted to take those concerns to Reno City Hall.
After the 2019 crash, changes were implemented.
With traffic safety, it’s based around three E’s.
The first being Engineering.
"As a result of that, the City went back through looked at all of the school zone devices that were in the area made upgrades where they were needed," said David Hutchinson, Traffic Engineer, City of Reno.
Those included high visibility crosswalks, flashing pedestrian warning devices, improved school zone signage, and walking paths through neighborhoods to the schools.
The area is surrounded by three schools.
Emilio was the first death reported on the road since the city started keeping crash data in 2017.
The pedestrian warning sign near the crosswalk where the crash happened is being upgraded.
E. 9th Street is a Primary Emergency Vehicle Route for firefighters, which does create challenges in terms of what the city can do.
“With that, you know we need to be careful what we put in the roadway because things like speed bumps can cause damage to that apparatus," Hutchinson said.
Enforcement is the second E.
Reno Police Chief Corey Solferino has made traffic safety a priority, but officers cited changes in the Nevada Legislature a few years ago that made traffic violations civil infractions rather than being criminal charges.
"I don't know if we need more punishment but repercussions,” Lieutenant Yturbide said. “People need to realize the amount of time that's taken away from people's families. The lives lost."
Yturbide recommends that the concern neighbors go to the legislature when its back in session next year to advocate for change
The last, and arguably most important, E, is education.
Reminding drivers that their behavior can drastically change the lives for several others.
"My community was really hurt with the loss of my child,” Elias said. “People that didn't really know him, they would come up to me and tell me, oh, we would see your son with all his brothers and his friends, and just with a smile, he would steal hearts. He was a caring little boy."
For the area of E. 9th Street from Sutro Street and Shoshone Drive, 19 crashes were recorded from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026.
Compared with other similar Reno roads, E. 9th Street records fewer crashes than average.
According to the City of Reno, a recent speed survey near the crash site measure an average speed of 24 mph, with and an 85th percentile speed of 29 mph. The speed limit is 25 mph.
For context the city does not consider speed bumps for areas until the 85th percentile is 7 mph above the speed limit.
However, neighbors in the area all say that many drivers often speed down that the road.
