Nico Delafuenete carjacking: Zayden McLean Fort Worth toddler killed after suspect rams into mom holding one year old boy with her own car.
A one-year-old boy has died along with his mother being seriously injured during an attempted carjacking after a man attempted to steal the woman’s car outside a Texas hospital backed into her while she was holding her son in her arms.
Officers responded to the Texas Health Huguley Hospital in the 11800 block of South Freeway in South Fort Worth just before 9pm on Sunday after receiving reports of a vehicular accident.
According to investigators, a mother and father had met in the hospital parking lot to exchange custody of their one-year-old son, Zayden McLean, when a suspect, 30-year-old Nico Delafuenete, attempted to steal the woman’s car.
Zayden’s father jumped inside the car to try and stop the thief from driving away and a struggle ensued NBC 5 reported.
Police said Delafuene put the car in reverse and backed into the mother while she was holding her son in her arms, reported The Dallas Morning News.
Victim was five weeks short of two year old birthday
The woman and child fell to the ground, and Delafuente allegedly ran them over again as he sped away from the scene, according to investigators.
Zayden was rushed to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, where he died later from his injuries. He would have turned two next month.
The mother was also hospitalized but was expected to recover.
‘On Nov. 15, this child’s birthday would’ve been their second birthday,’ Fort Worth police Ofc. Jimmy Pollozani said. ‘Instead, the family and friends have to gather together and plan a funeral for this young child’s life that was taken far too soon by a senseless, by an individual.’
A GoFundMe campaign description identified Zayden’s parents as Bailey Bingham, of Cleburne, and Shea McLean.
‘He was a child of love and spirit,’ the organizer of the campaign wrote of Zayden. ‘Everyone who knew him loved him, and that love will continue to carry.’
A friend of Bingham’s wrote in the description of a second fundraiser that the mom-of-one was in the ICU with brain damage and bleeding around her brain.
Suspect booked on charges of capital murder and aggravated robbery
Delafuente drove away but crashed into a tree not far from the hospital. He then tried to escape on foot, but collapsed from the injuries he suffered in the wreck.
A hospital security guard took him into custody until police arrived on the scene and arrested him, reported CBS DFW.
After being treated for his injuries at the hospital, Delafuente was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on charges of capital murder and aggravated robbery. He is being held without a bond.
Records indicate that he has a prior criminal record that included a 2012 arrest on a DWI charge.
