A Cicero man was ordered held on a $25,000 bond after authorities alleged he was driving under the influence of drugs when he struck and killed a 3-year-old boy on the Southwest Side in 2013.
Erick Ochoa, 24, was charged with aggravated DUI involving a death, according to a statement from Chicago Police. He was also cited for driving on a suspended license and failing to stop at a stop sign.
About 10:20 p.m. on July 20, 2013, Jimmy Lomas ran into the street from between two parked cars and was struck by Ochoa’s vehicle, police said.
The 3-year-old, of the 300 block of 27th Avenue in Bellwood, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead at 11:11 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
At Ochoa’s bond hearing Tuesday, prosecutors said a retired Chicago Police sergeant was driving behind Ochoa as he hit Lomas. Ochoa didn’t immediately stop, but returned to the scene about 20 minutes later and admitted that he’d hit the boy.
Ochoa, of the 1300 block of South 50th Avenue in Cicero, was initially cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian in the roadway, but the investigation later determined he had been under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.
A DUI kit later performed on Ochoa found that he had marijuana and cocaine in his system, prosecutors said.
He was arrested Sunday after he was stopped for a traffic violation, police said. Ochoa is scheduled to appear in bond court Tuesday.
