The mother of a 12-year-old boy who died after a hit-and-run collision in Coventry has issued a tearful appeal for public help to track down a suspect wanted by police.
Keaton Slater’s mother, Louise Slater, told a news conference on Wednesday that the death of her son, who was struck by a BMW car in Coventry last Friday, had left his family devastated and all those who knew him heartbroken.
The schoolboy’s mother was flanked by his father, Clint, and brothers Kai, 13; and Keanu, 17; as she appealed for information about the whereabouts of 21-year-old Latvia-born Dolars Aleksanders, who is being sought on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
After wiping away tears with a tissue, the 51-year-old said: “We were a family of five but now we are four.
“Our lives will never be the same again and Keaton’s brothers, dad, nana and granddad and myself are devastated.
“The whole family, his school friends are all heartbroken.”
Saying she had initially been reluctant to make a public appeal, the grieving mother added: “Hearing that whoever did this will not hand themselves in has left us all feeling helpless and we need to get justice for our Keaton.
“We just want everyone to find who took our son – Keanu and Kai’s little brother – away from us.
“Our little, fun-loving joker made everyone laugh all the time. Who did this to Keaton has taken everything away from us all.
“Please if anyone knows anything … please come forward so we can have justice for our family.”
In a separate statement also read to the media by Louise Slater, Keaton’s brother, Keanu, said: “I will never be able to see him joke around with us again, never be able to see him grow my age.
“There are not enough words to describe what he meant to us all. Our best friend, our little brother, a son and now an angel, all in one person.”
Coventry City fan Keaton, whose family all wore the club’s colours during the news conference, was pronounced dead at the scene after the collision in Radford Road at about 4.30pm.
Police believe Aleksanders was driving a BMW containing a total of four men which failed to stop.
Sergeant Rich Evans, of the West Midlands’ serious collision investigation unit, said: “We have already made arrests and spoken to a number of people who were also in that car.
“We are working with all our partner agencies to try and establish the whereabouts of the suspect.
“We are also fully aware that the suspect was born in Latvia and we are doing further inquiries with our international counterparts.”
Another 21-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving on Tuesday, has been released on bail.
Police are treating a third man as a witness and have interviewed a fourth male.
A fifth man has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and remains in custody.