FRESNO, CA (KFSN/CNN) - A toddler is fighting for her life after her uncle accidentally ran her over with his 3-ton truck.
But instead of stopping he drove off.
Surveillance video from across the street captured the gruesome scene. The 23-month-old Zayliah Medina was crushed under her uncle's truck. Her mother rushed to get her to a hospital. The uncle drove away. Nobody called police.
“The mother stated that she did not want to get her stepbrother in trouble even though she knew it was an accident. Again, she knew he was driving without a license,” said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
Eddie Alvarado, 33, came back, but he left again before police knew where to look for evidence. Valley Children's Hospital notified investigators of Zayliah's injuries, but they couldn't get a straight answer until they found the video from a neighbor. And they couldn't find Alvarado until someone beat him up in Madera, CA.
"Alvarado would not tell us who physically assaulted him, but information was it was possibly family members who did this in retaliation for what he did to the child," Dyer said.
Family members did not comment about what happened. Police said parents need to keep a close eye on their little ones near cars, but this mother was not negligent.
She could be in trouble for lying to police or for not reporting the crash. Her stepbrother also dug himself a much deeper hole by trying to avoid the police.
"Had he just simply called the police department and reported the collision, that would've been the end of this,” Dyer said. “He would not have been arrested."
Alvarado was taken to jail Wednesday on hit and run charges.
He also has an immigration detainer. He's a Mexican citizen who told police he'd been in the U.S. for about a year.
Zayliah has severe head trauma, internal injuries, broken bones and spinal trauma.
Copyright 2018 KFSN via CNN. All rights reserved.
