Hit-and-run suspect arrested

A 21-year-old Colorado Springs man was arrested Sunday in connection with the death of Genoveva "Tascha" Aldama, who was struck by a hit-and-run driver on her way home from school Friday.

Police arrested Jeremy Todd Brown on suspicion of vehicular homicide, hit-and-run and several other traffic-related violations.

Aldama, 12, and Sina Walker, 12, were crossing Pikes Peak Avenue near Coleridge Avenue when a car that witnesses said was "traveling fast" weaved between a car that was slowing and one that had stopped. The car then struck the two Emerson-Edison Junior Academy seventh- graders and fled.

Aldama and Walker, who turns 13 on Dec. 14, were taken to Memorial Hospital. Aldama died Saturday. Walker was discharged Sunday, according to a hospital employee.

Police got a break Sunday morning when a tip from a caller led them to a 2001 gold Dodge Intrepid with a broken driver's side mirror parked behind some homes in the 1800 block of Monterey Road, Colorado Springs police Sgt. Phil LeBeau said.

The car, a rental that also had damage to its hood, matched the description of the car believed to have been used in the accident.

Another caller led police to a suspect, LeBeau said. Police found Brown in a vehicle with two other males. All three were taken in for questioning.

Only Brown had been arrested Sunday night. The other two were still being questioned, LeBeau said. Le-Beau said that if involved, they could face conspiracy charges.

He said he believes one of the males may have been in the car at the time of the crash. The other male is a juvenile, LeBeau said.

There is no crosswalk where the girls were crossing. Crossing guards were at the Byron Drive crosswalk - about a block farther west on Pikes Peak Avenue.

And there were no flashing yellow lights warning motorists to slow down.

"It is not technically a school zone," said Larry Borland, security director for Colorado Springs School District 11.

"They only have those 20-mph school zones in locations around elementary schools. But the speed limit in front of the school is clearly 30 mph, and when there are children present you need to be aware of that."

Schools do not have any way to create school zones at middle and high schools, Borland said. That authority belongs to the city's traffic engineering division.

But D-11 board member Sherry Butcher said she is ready to have a discussion with the city about school zones.

"It is horrible when something like this happens," Butcher said. "It would be good on this young girl's behalf if something positive could happen."

Butcher said the board needs to consider awareness campaigns in which parents and teachers would stand on busy streets near schools with brightly colored signs warning motorists to slow down.

"The bottom line is, our community needs to remember that when there are kids present, whether they are 5 or 15, we need to slow down," Butcher said.

The staff at Emerson-Edison spent Sunday afternoon preparing a plan to help the school's 700 students cope with Tascha Aldama's death.

Between 60 and 100 students were in the area when the girls were hit about 15 minutes after school ended.

Extra counselors will be present today to help students deal with the tragedy. Borland said that when the children arrive, they will be greeted by teachers and staff. And some teachers will ride the buses that were on the school premises when the incident occurred.

"We want to make sure the kids understand that the day is going to go on; we are going to have a school day like we normally do," Borland said.

"We are going to pause to remember their classmate ... And just like any other tragedy, you just take it a day at a time and try to get back on track as best you can."

- Edited by Mike Braham. Headline by Stephanie Espinoza

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