Extradited Hit and Run Driver Pleads Guilty to Causing Death of Coventry Schoolboy by Dangerous Driving

A motorist has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a 12-year-old schoolboy by dangerous driving following a high-speed hit-and-run collision in Coventry.

Dolars Aleksanders, 23, admitted causing death by dangerous driving when he appeared before Warwick Crown Court on 3 September. The conviction follows a collision on Radford Road on 14 June 2024, in which 12-year-old Keaton Slater was struck and killed shortly after 4.30pm while attempting to cross the street.

The court heard that Aleksanders was driving a BMW at speeds in excess of 70mph when the vehicle collided with the victim. Emergency services attended the scene, but the child died from his injuries. Aleksanders failed to stop at the scene and drove away, subsequently abandoning the vehicle in Frederick Road, Coventry, more than six miles from the site of the collision, where it was recovered approximately 20 minutes later.

Officers from the West Midlands Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit established Aleksanders as the primary suspect. Investigators determined that following the incident, Aleksanders fled the United Kingdom and travelled to Latvia. A law enforcement operation involving West Midlands Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the National Crime Agency, alongside Latvian authorities, resulted in his location, arrest, and extradition back to the UK to face criminal proceedings.

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Addressing the guilty plea, Detective Chief Inspector Sam Lewis, who led the investigation, stated that Aleksanders was driving at an excessive speed and chose to flee the scene rather than render assistance to the victim. Detective Chief Inspector Lewis noted that the complex inquiry was sustained by a commitment to securing a conviction following the fatal collision.

In a statement issued following the hearing, the family of Keaton Slater said that after waiting two years for accountability, the guilty plea ensured that the circumstances surrounding his death had been acknowledged, though no outcome could mitigate the loss of their son.

Aleksanders was remanded in custody by the presiding judge at Warwick Crown Court and is scheduled to be sentenced on 13 November.

Read more: Latvian Extradited & Remanded in Custody Over Fatal Hit-and-Run Death of Coventry Schoolboy Keaton Slater