FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A man suspected of being behind a deadly hit-and-run crash in Lauderhill appeared in court on Wednesday morning.
Decarius Richards, 19, faces seven charges, including leaving the scene of an accident involving death, child neglect and driving with a suspended license.
Police said Richards is the man involved in an early-morning crash along State Road 441, Monday.
Surveillance video of the crash shows a red SUV making a left turn on State Road 441 when a green BMW crashed into it.
The force of the impact flipped the SUV over several times, and the BMW came to rest just off 441.
Good Samaritans rushed over to help the victims, a man and a woman, inside of the SUV. The woman did not survive her injuries, but the man is still recovering at Broward Health Medical Center with a punctured lung.
Moments after the crash, the driver of the BMW, later identified by police as Richards, could be seen trying to get out of the vehicle while a blue car pulled up to the intersection.
“After the crash, the defendant does not go over to assist the other vehicle like the good Samaritans did,” said the prosecutor in the virtual bond court hearing. “He does not call 911. He does not render aid.”
Police said inside the blue car was a friend of Richards who helped free him from the damaged BMW, before carrying one of the two children inside the BMW back to his car.
A limping Richards is then seen handing over the second child. Investigators said Richards eventually walked away from the scene.
Police eventually tracked down Richards after the children’s mother took them to the hospital seeking medical attention.
“The mother said the defendant called … and told her he was involved in a bad crash, and that her two kids were hurt but ‘not bad hurt,'” police said in the arrest report.
One boy suffered an injured ankle while the other suffered a broken nose and injured his leg. After locating the children, investigators would find Richards soon after, and 7News cameras captured him being led into the Broward County Jail, Tuesday night.
The judge ordered the 19-year-old to be held on $300,000 bond.
Richards’ past charges as a juvenile and adult were also discussed at the court hearing.
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