Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

Login Options

1:51 a.m. • 2-10-12

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Today: Rain.
    • Hi: 58° F
  • Sat: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 54° F
  • Sun: Clear.
    • Hi: 43° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Marketplace Links

Social Links

Main Menu

7-Year-Old Dies in Hit-and-Run Case


e-mail print friendly
Hipolito Camora Hernandez
Hipolito Camora Hernandez

A 7-year-old boy who was critically injured by a suspected drunk driver in Johnston County, has died, his family said Tuesday.

State troopers said Marcus Lassiter, 7, was trying to cross Heath Road when a car struck him on Sunday. An adult had been watching him and another young child play in the yard, his aunt, Mary Ann Cooley, said.

Cooley said the family made the decision to remove Marcus from life support, and he died late Monday night.

Relatives said doctors at Duke University Hospital had declared Marcus brain dead. The child’s leg was broken and he had brain damage.

The driver, Pollo Hernandez Rodriquez, faces charges of felony hit and run, driving while impaired, driving without a license, driving a stolen car and causing serious injury with a motor vehicle.

The Highway Patrol said Tuesday they believe Rodriquez did not give his real name to police. Troopers are trying to determine his identity to run a criminal background. That will help determine what charges are appropriate.

Rodriquez remained in jail Tuesday, held on a $1 million bond.

Police said they arrested Rodriquez after he tried to flee from the scene.

RELATED TOPICS: Johnston County, Duke University

e-mail print friendly

146 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 146 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
I was out there Sunday minutes after this happened. Once captured "Pollo" spoke decent English to Allen Hester but when the deputies handed him over to the troopers he was "no comprende". He also has a prior DWI arrest in NC. Make sure you have an uninsured motorist policy because there are a lot of illegal drivers out there. Once you break one law what's another?

"piperchuck: So....I don't own a business that employs anyone except myself & therefore can't pull up the welcome mat...now what??"

Don't support businesses that obviously do hire illegals. Tell your elected officials firmly and often that you do not want illegals in the country and that they need to enforce the existing laws. Remind them of the problems being caused by illegals, such as this story documents, and that you will hold them accountable if they take no action to clean up this mess.

prayers to the family, I am very proud of them for making the decision not delay the inevitable. God Bless them. Too many children are lost because of craziness.

my prayers are with the family i too lost a friend to a drunk driver when he was only 5 so hard to handle

RACE IS NOT THE ISSUE, A FAMILY HAS LOST THIER CHILD LOSING A CHILD IS THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD BUT THE WAY THEY LOST THIER CHILD IS WRONG THIS GUY SHOULD PAY THE PRICE IN JAIL AND I HOPE HE WILL ALWAYS KEEP THIS CHILD IN MIND AND NEVER FORGET THE PAIN HE HAS CAUSED THIS FAMILY THIS CHILDS LIFE WAS CUT SHORT BECAUSE OF SOMEONE BEING STUPIED,GOD BLESS THE FAMILY

View Comments VIEW ALL 146 COMMENTS
Report It

Multimedia

Click Here