A man accused of crashing a car into a woman who was pushing a stroller with her two young children and killing her 4-year-old son made his first court appearance Friday following his arrest on a vehicular homicide charge.
Andrew Ezequiel Perez, 21, is also facing two counts of reckless driving causing bodily injury in the March 2014 crash in the 4100 block of Pine Island Road.
Perez turned himself in to police Thursday and was ordered held on $50,000 bond at Friday's court hearing. Several family members attended the hearing, where Perez's attorney said he has fully cooperated in the case.
Authorities said Perez was speeding at least 70 mph in a 45 mph zone when he lost control, veered onto the sidewalk and struck Natali Munzer Alja'ouni, who was pushing a stroller with her 7-month-old child, Ahmad Staih, inside.
Her son, 4-year-old Abdallah Staih, was walking by his mother's side and was also struck. He later died at the hospital. The mother and infant were also hospitalized with serious injuries but survived.
A toxicology report showed Perez had cannabis in his system at the time of the crash, authorities said.
