LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas family is mourning the loss of their loved one, who was tragically struck and killed by a car while riding his electric scooter.
Jhovani Carillo spoke to mother Catherine Velazquez, who recounted what her family has been through.
The devastating incident occurred on March 24 near the intersection of West Warm Springs Road and South Torrey Pines Drive.
“It’s the worst experience of my life. I don’t even know how I am breathing. I don’t even know how I’m standing," said Catherine Velazquez, mother of two boys.
Velazquez said her 22-year-old son Christopher Soto, his 14-year-old brother Carlos, and their small dog, Carmela, were riding their electric scooters to the park—a trip they made regularly.
But as they reached the intersection, police said they were hit by a car.
"By the time we got there, you could just see the scooter, my son's helmet, his cell phone, like all the items on the road-- broken, busted," Velazquez said. "You could see the car that was there- it was completely caved in from the top, and the windshield was busted out. I knew that was Christopher's outline."
Both Carlos and Christopher were rushed to the hospital, but medics later declared Christopher dead.
"I just assumed the worst. It was probably both my boys weren't going to survive. And of course, you get to the hospital, you check in and then they stick you in a room and you already know, just by the look of the room, somebody didn't make it or both of them," Velazquez remembered. "And of course, that's when they told me, they tried everything and you know, Christopher's heart would not come back. And then, when you get through that shock you're like, ‘well, wait a minute, what about my other son?’ And they just say, ‘you can’t see him now, they are in the back working on him, but he’s alive' and that was it, my whole life changed."
Velazquez is not alone in her grief.
On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said a 32-year-old man died after a bus collided with him at the intersection of Flamingo and Pecos. Metro said impairment is not suspected at this time.
So far this year, at least eight people have died while riding an electric scooter or e-bike on our roads.
That’s the same number of deaths reported for the entire year of 2024, according to data from police.
“I have to be strong for him even though I am dead inside," Velazquez said.
She said her 14-year-old son is still recovering in the hospital but could be released in the next few days.
"He’s [Carlos] starting to have nightmares of the accident, you know, replay over and over," Velazquez said. "Carlos started asking right after the accident, 'where is my brother? Mom, why are you only checking on me, go check on Chris. Mom, I know he's bad, I seen him got hit worse than me,' ... And he said, 'mommy did my brother die?' and I said, 'oh, baby don't say that I don't know,' even though I knew.
"And then, after his surgery, we decided we have to tell him. And I told him, mommy checked and I am sorry Christopher didn’t make it...and he just had his little tear coming out of his little eye," Velazquez said.
She tells Channel 13 Carlos and Christopher were best friends and loved using their electric scooters.
"Christopher was always big brother, so he always tried to protect Carlos," she added. "They had that bond, you know, almost 15 years together, you can't break that."
Velazquez said Christopher was a kind-hearted, loving and goofy young man.
"He was so kind and loving. My mom would always be like, 'Christopher can you go to the pharmacy and get my medicine?'... and he would always—'yeah, grandma, no problem grandma.' Like he would do anything for anyone. He was truly, genuinely a good kid trying to navigate his future," Velazquez said.
She said Metro is still investigating her son's crash and is urging anyone who might have seen anything or captured any video of what happened to submit it to investigators at (702) 828-3060.
