By Chris Higgins, Des Moines Register
A second man has been arrested in connection with an alleged Dec. 13 drag-racing crash in the 1700 block of Fleur Drive that left a 4-year-old boy dead and three others critically injured.
Keith Eric Jones of Des Moines, 47, was charged Monday with vehicular homicide by reckless driving, vehicular homicide by drag racing and vehicular serious injury by reckless driving, according to a Des Moines police news release and jail records.
Robert Miller III of Urbandale, 35, was charged Thursday with two counts of vehicular homicide, one for reckless driving and the other for drag racing. He was also charged with serious injury by vehicle for driving recklessly, drag racing, reckless driving, failure to maintain control and excessive speed.
Police allege that Miller was driving a 2022 Genesis sedan at over 100 mph before losing control and crossing into oncoming traffic, striking another vehicle in which the 4-year-old was a passenger. Witnesses described the Genesis and a 2021 BMW X7 as racing between stoplights.
Relatives have described Marco Faguada, the child who died in the crash, as a “beautiful, joyful, loving soul.”
“We’ve lost such a beautiful life that really deserved to live and flourish,” his aunt, Brenda Vasquez, told the Des Moines Register last week. “I’m taking solace in the fact that his pain is over, but I also want him back.”
Marco’s relatives set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the cost of the funeral and memorial. It had raised more than $50,000 as of Monday.
Marco’s death was the 20th traffic-related fatality of 2022 in Des Moines.
Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at [email protected] or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.
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