LA deputy charged with murder for crash that killed boy, 12

SOUTH GATE, Calif. (AP) — A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was charged with murder and vehicular manslaughter for an off-duty crash that killed a 12-year-old boy, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Ricardo Castro, 28, also is charged with reckless driving causing great bodily injury for the Nov. 3, 2021 crash that occurred in a school zone in South Gate.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

Castro’s pickup was doing up to 95 mph on a street with a 25-mph speed limit when school children are present when it collided with a car making a left turn, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said at a news conference.

Isaiah Rodriguez was in the passenger seat of the other car and died at a hospital, authorities said.

His then-19-year-old sister was driving and she was seriously injured, while Castro and his passenger also were hurt, authorities said.

“Driving at 95 miles per hour was nearly quadruple the speed limit when school children are present,” showing a “conscious disregard for those children’s lives,” Gascón said.

Castro previously had been involved in several crashes and had received several traffic tickets, including for speeding, the DA said.

At the news conference, the boy’s mother, Betsabe Suarez, said the family is “completely broken” because of his death, KABC-TV reported.

“I love you, Isaiah, and I miss you every single day,” she said.