13-year-old boy on way to school hit and killed in crosswalk, Colorado cops say

Brianna Badini remembers 13-year-old Alex Mackiewicz as a good friend.

“He was really funny,” Brianna told KUSA. “He’d always bring a smile on my face no matter how I was feeling, and I feel like I could talk to him about a lot of stuff.”

Alex died March 6 after being hit in a crosswalk on his way to school in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, sheriff’s officials and news outlets reported.

“It’s just been hard going to school and his desk being empty,” Brianna told KUSA.

Classmate Shawn Judd remembered Alex’s kindness, humor and love of baseball, KDVR reported.

“Yesterday was going to be his first baseball practice,” Shawn said at a memorial a day after the fatal accident.

Alex was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk on a “one-wheel,” a kind of one-wheeled skateboard, at 6:48 a.m. March 6 when a vehicle ran a red light and struck him, killing him, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The driver stopped and cooperated with deputies, officials said.

Following an investigation Ruben Amaro-Morones, 52, was arrested Wednesday, March 13, on charges of careless driving causing death and failing to obey a traffic signal, deputies said.

Highlands Ranch is about a 20-mile drive south of Denver.

This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 3:19 PM with the headline "13-year-old boy on way to school hit and killed in crosswalk, Colorado cops say."