‘He means everything to me’: cousin of 12-year-old Alberta boy killed in hit and run

WATCH ABOVE: A boy was walking home with his cousin when a vehicle struck him. Eric Szeto spoke with his family.

EDMONTON — Charges have been laid in a hit-and-run that left a 12-year-old northern Alberta boy dead Tuesday night.

Athabasca RCMP say Crystal Andres, 36, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death and failure to remain at the scene of an accident after Lee Thunder was struck while walking along Highway 55 in Athabasca.

“He was my best cousin I ever had, but now he’s gone,” said the boy’s 11-year-old cousin, Afeni Laboucan, holding back tears.

Around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, 12-year-old Lee Thunder was walking along Highway 55 in Athabasca, in an area known as “east hill,” when he was struck by a van that left the scene. Police say the impact of the collision flung the boy into a ditch.

The 12-year-old was walking home from getting food in downtown Athabasca when he was struck. Lee was with his cousin Wyatt Thunder, who wasn’t too far behind him when it happened.

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“It was really hard to look at his face because there was blood and dirt in his mouth. I tried to clear it away as much as I could so he could breathe,” said Wyatt, 20, adding he didn’t see the incident – he just heard it.

“He was unconscious. I could barely feel a pulse when I got to him. I felt it slowly going away.”

Wyatt tried his best to flag down a vehicle, but says about 10 vehicles drove by the pair before one finally stopped and called for an ambulance. Lee was taken to the Athabasca Hospital where he died of his injuries.

“I tried my best to look out for him,” Wyatt said Wednesday. “I just guess it wasn’t good enough, to allow something like this happen.”

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Around 11 p.m. Tuesday, a 36-year-old woman from Athabasca turned herself in to RCMP.

Andres is scheduled to make her first appearance in Athabasca court on April 27.

A bouquet of flowers was placed at the collision scene Wednesday. Funeral arrangements for Lee have not yet been confirmed, but his family says he will be greatly missed.

“He means everything to me. I’ll never forget him,” said Afeni, holding Lee’s favourite stuffed animal. “I loved him so much.”

Athabasca is located about 150 kilometres north of Edmonton.