Police report that a 1-year-old boy was killed when a man, attempting to steal a car, rammed into him while trying to escape.
The incident took place close to the Texas Health Huguley Hospital, in Fort Worth. Nico Delafuente, 30, who has been identified as the suspect is said to have leaped into a woman’s car while she was holding a baby in her arms at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
There was a custody exchange taking place between the child’s parents at the time. The boy’s father noticed the carjacking and jumped into the car to stop the suspect. The suspect is reported to have struck woman and child twice, once while backing out of the lot and once while driving forward.
The force of it was enough to cause the woman to drop her child and both fell to the ground. The baby, named Zayden McLean, passed away after being rushed to Cook Children’s Medical Center. The mother survived the incident even though she was injured. It is not known what happened to the boy’s father.
The suspect was captured and arrested by the police after he tried to flee the scene and crashed into a tree a small distance from the scene of the crime. He was disoriented and stumbled out of the car. A hospital security guard caught and held him down until the police arrived.
According to law enforcement, Nico Delafuente was charged with aggravated robbery and the capital murder of a child. He is set to be booked into Fort Worth Jail once his treatment is over and he is released from medical care.
The GoFundMe page for McLean, to raise funds for hospital and funeral costs, says that he was “a child of love and spirit”. It adds, “everyone who knew him loved him, and that love will continue to carry.”
His parents were Shea McLean and Bailey Bingham. Their baby would have been 2 on 15 November.
Delafuente is reported to have a long criminal record, including several DWIs and vehicle robbery.
