Las Vegas man charged with auto homicide in Utah ATV death of 7-year-old

A man who police believe was impaired when he rolled the ATV he was driving, killing a 7-year-old girl, was arrested over the weekend and charged with automobile homicide and DUI on Monday.

A man who police believe was impaired when he rolled the ATV he was driving, killing a 7-year-old girl, was arrested over the weekend and charged with automobile homicide and DUI on Monday. (Alexander Raths, Shutterstock)


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DUCK CREEK VILLAGE, Kane County — A Las Vegas man was arrested in southern Utah over the weekend after police say he crashed his all-terrain vehicle while driving impaired and killed one of three young girls riding with him.

Armando Garcia Becerra, 32, was booked into the Kane County Jail and charged Monday in 6th District Court with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; three counts of DUI with a passenger under the age of 16, a class A misdemeanor; and reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor.

About 9 p.m. Saturday, the parents of a 7-year-old girl took their unconscious daughter to the Mammoth Creek Fire Station.

"They stated that their 7-year-old daughter was riding as a passenger in a UTV when the driver, Becerra, lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll over. The parents stated that the juvenile was never conscious during transport and had severe head trauma," according to a police booking affidavit.

The young girl was pronounced dead at the fire station.

Kane County sheriff's deputies drove to the crash site where they found Becerra. He explained how he was driving the vehicle and three girls were passengers.

Deputies noted the odor of alcohol on Becerra's breath while talking to him and he admitted to drinking several beers prior to crashing, the affidavit alleges.

Becerra "also admitted to me that he believed that he was still under the influence of alcohol at the time of the interview, which was nearly two hours after the incident had occurred," the arresting deputy wrote.

Toxicology test results were still pending at the time the affidavit was written. Becerra was arrested following a series of DUI tests.

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.
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