Driver Who Allegedly Struck, Killed 8-Year-Old Girl Held On $500,000 Bail

A Boston man police allege struck and killed an 8-year-old girl with his car Saturday night has been ordered held on $500,000 bail.

James Horton, 45, was arraigned Monday in Dorchester Municipal Court on charges including motor vehicle homicide, leaving the scene of an accident causing death and operating with a suspended license.

Police allege Horton was behind the wheel of a vehicle that struck and killed the girl and injured her 12-year-old cousin, a boy, on West Selden Street in the city's Mattapan neighborhood at about 11 p.m. Saturday.

Family members identified the 8-year-old as Yadielys Deleon Camacho.

Before the accident, the children were at their grandmother's birthday party, family members said, and were riding bikes.

"Witnesses observed the vehicle, a rented 2015 Chevy Cruze, operating at a high rate of speed on West Selden Street before it jumped onto the sidewalk and struck the victims," according to a release from the Suffolk district attorney's office. Witnesses said the car then hit a parked car and struck a fence. Horton then allegedly ran from the scene. Authorities found him Sunday morning hiding in a closet at a residence in Brockton.

At Horton's arraignment Monday, Yadielys' mother, Yalitza Camacho, clutched a stuffed animal, while Yadielys' grandmother, Maria Cruz, had to be consoled following an outburst.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom