Child, Woman Killed by Alleged Drunk, Unlicensed Drivers

Updated: 4/04 6:27 pm

Two local families are dealing with loved ones lost over the weekend due to allegedly drunk drivers. The first crash early Saturday morning in South Fairmount killed a three year old boy and leaves his mother in the hospital. The second crash late Sunday night in Hamilton killed a woman. Local 12's Rich Jaffe says there are some other unusual and sure to be controversial similarities between the cases as well.

This morning, Rodolfo Temaj Felix walked into a Hamilton County courtroom for arraignment. He's charged with the hit and run accident Saturday morning that killed three year old Shakir West, and sent his mother Niya to the hospital with serious injuries. Tamaj Felix was in court last Thursday, pleading guilty to driving without a license.

Shakir's father told Local 12 of the loss, "That was my only son, I'm gonna miss him a lot."

Police say Temaj Felix was under the influence when he slammed into the mother and child crossing the street in a crosswalk. He never stopped. Shakir's father says Temaj Felix should spend the rest of his life in prison for the incident. "The doctor took me to the room where my son was, and at first I thought there was a possibility he could make it but then he told me what actually happened, that he died on impact where his spinal cord was detached from his brain."

Barely a day after Shakir West was struck and killed in Cincinnati, a very similar crash happened in Hamilton, claiming the life of a Hamilton woman. Again the driver and allegedly drunk, Hispanic male with no drivers license. Police say in that crash Jennifer Bowling was coming home from work Sunday night when a car driven by Julio Cesar Olvera-Mejia veered left of center and hit her head on. He and his passenger also left the scene, arrested later at a Fairfield Hospital. "When you're born here and you're a criminal, you're a U.S. citizen...you may be a bad person but you've earned that right. These are people who aren't even supposed to be here." The similarities between the crashes strike a cord for Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones, an outspoken advocate for immigration reform. He says there is a solution. "The way to fix it immediately. We have to run more checks, we have to stop people, we have to take their cars away we have to impound their cars in the neighborhoods where they live, where they drive, pretty simple you've gotta take them off the streets."

The funeral for Shakir West will be held at the Walker Funeral Home in Mount Healthy, no date has been announced. The family tells us they're waiting to see if his mother will be well enough to attend. To help with expenses a fund has been set up in the name of Shakir West at any Fifth Third Bank.

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