Police say suspect confessed to ‘drunk driving’ in fatal DUI wreck
Las Vegas police say a man suspected of driving while impaired in a crash that killed a juvenile in the northern Las Vegas Valley Tuesday tearfully confessed to an officer that he was “drunk driving” and that the decision caused the death of his friend.
Police said they were called at 11:50 p.m. to a three-car crash near Gowan and Walnut roads. Investigators believe 19-year-old Abel Baires-Lorenzana of Las Vegas was driving a 2003 Toyota Corolla while impaired when he lost control of the vehicle and struck two parked, unoccupied vehicles, a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe and a 1998 Honda Civic.
Police said Baires-Lorenzana and two other people in the car jumped out and attempted to run off while a fourth person in the car died at the scene.
The child was identified by the Clark County coroner’s office as 17-year-old Amaru Sinay of Las Vegas.
An online fundraiser created by the boy’s family remembered him as a soccer player, a brother to three siblings and as having a dimpled, smiling face.
“The Sinay family, his mother Venessa, his father Gerardo, his sisters Dezi and Gigi will miss him every day, not to forget his little brother Israel,” the post read.
Police said in an arrest report for Baires-Lorenzana that roughly 20 minutes after the crash, they received a 911 call from a resident in the area of 3500 East Alexander Road. A resident there reported that an individual was in the area stating “he had just killed someone.”
Officers said they arrived on East Alexander and encountered Baires-Lorenzana. He was mumbling and crying. Police said he also appeared to be impaired and had blood on his clothes.
“Baires-Lorenzana stated, ‘I killed my little Homie,’” police said. “(An officer) asked him what he meant and Baires-Lorenzana responded by saying, ‘I was drunk driving,’ and again stated he killed him.”
Police said it appeared the the driver of the Toyota was speeding in a 25 mile-per-hour zone at the time of the crash. The driver of the vehicle had veered to the right, then overcorrected as it was traveling on Gowan, causing the car to slam into the parked vehicles.
Baires-Lorenzana was housed at the Clark County Detention Center early Thursday. North Las Vegas Justice Court records indicate he has had a bail set at $250,000 on charges of driving under the influence causing death and failure to stop at the scene of an accident. An arraignment in the case is now scheduled for Monday morning.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.