Finding suspect vehicle in fatal hit and run of teenage cyclist ‘huge step’ in investigation: Edmonton police

Finding the suspect vehicle in the fatal May 2024 hit and run of a 13-year-old cyclist in southeast Edmonton is a “huge step” forward in the investigation, police say.

“It’s akin to, you look at a homicide, you’re finding the murder weapon,” said Sgt. Chris Deslaurier with the EPS major collision investigations section (MCIS).

The Edmonton Police Service found the 2017 blue Mazda 3 at a repair shop in the capital city, though officers could not say where and when it was located “for investigative purposes.”

Key to the investigation: the vehicle was found before repairs and alterations had been made to the vehicle.

“It’s a huge thing, obviously, because it allows us to look at debris that was left on the scene,” Deslaurier told CityNews Tuesday. “And I akin it to like a jigsaw puzzle, where we can put pieces together, we can figure out how the damages, damage profile, match that to injuries that were sustained.

“And then obviously we get a nicer look at the vehicle itself, as opposed to if it had been repaired, and all these different little keys or scars or pieces of damage are gone.”

The discovery was made public five weeks after Edmonton police released a brief video clip of the vehicle driving east on 34 Avenue at 3:50 a.m. on May 29, 2024.

That’s about 15 minutes before officers were called to assist paramedics at 48 Street and 34 Avenue where a teenage boy was struck by a vehicle. Police say he was in medical distress and died of his injuries at the scene.

A damaged bicycle could still be seen on the roadway later that morning.

EPS investigators have long maintained the vehicle would have sustained damage to its front end and driver’s side when it hit the boy in the eastbound lanes of 34 Avenue.

Police say finding the vehicle was made possible in part thanks to tips from the public.

“Public’s been playing a huge part in this investigation right from the get-go,” Deslaurier said.

“It really shows that the public does care about these kinds of incidents. Because, you know, unfortunately, it’s something that it can affect everybody. It could have been anybody’s family, and unfortunately it happened to this one, but the public still cares, and it’s been a great, tremendous help to have that information come to us.”

Deslaurier is asking the driver of the vehicle to turn themselves in.

“This has gone on long enough,” he said. “We were wanting answers for the family, right? We want answers, obviously, for our own investigative purposes, but it’s something that has deeply affected many lives, and it’s just, enough is enough.”