Child run over, killed by dad’s van

Ed Koch and Mary Manning

Monday, May 17, 2004 | 10:53 a.m.

A Metro Police detective today said it appears no crime was committed Sunday when a man who was leaving a party in Las Vegas backed his van over and killed his 18-month-old son, who apparently had followed him to his vehicle.

"Right now, it appears this was just an accident," Detective Bob Holland said, noting the father apparently had no idea his son had followed him. "I'll be calling the DA's office this morning to find out what they want to do with it."

The case remains open because police will have to determine if any criminal negligence was involved. Holland declined to speculate on that.

Police and paramedics, arriving to a call in the 3300 block of Covey Lane off North Pecos Road and Cheyenne Avenue about 10:55 a.m., discovered the lifeless body of Jorge Canalas near his father's 1997 Dodge Caravan.

Holland said the father, Miguel Canalas, his wife and their three children were at a small gathering between single-story apartments near the three-space parking area where the accident occurred.

Miguel Canalas left to go home. He backed his van out of the space, swinging to the left and running over his son with the right front tire, Holland said.

"We believe the child might have wanted to get in on the passenger side," Holland said. "He (Miguel) did not realize his son had followed him."

The family was visiting a relative who lives in the apartment complex, said Luz Becerra, a neighbor who saw the accident. The child's mother was not outside when the child was run over, Becerra said.

"The baby died at the moment," she said. "It was terrible. The father told the wife he didn't know. He didn't see the baby, he didn't know the baby was behind him. It was an accident."

Becerra said she tried to comfort the mother, but she was inconsolable.

"The mother cried and cried," she said.

It was the 47th fatal traffic accident in Metro Police jurisdiction this year and the 16th pedestrian death. Similarly, there were 46 traffic deaths, 16 of them pedestrians, for the same period of last year in Metro's jurisdiction.

Last September a 2-year-old North Las Vegas girl suffered critical injuries but survived after she was run over by the family sport utility vehicle.

The vehicle rolled over the girl in the family driveway while her mother was loading another child into the car.