MARYSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A man who accidentally killed his
4-year-old son after running over him with his van was leaving a
construction site he’d been stealing from when the accident happened, a
prosecutor said Friday as new charges were announced against the father.
Natividad
de Jesus Hernandez also had a forged international driver’s license and
forged permanent resident card, said Union County prosecutor David
Phillips.
An indictment filed Friday charges Hernandez with
aggravated vehicular homicide, involuntary manslaughter and two counts
of forgery in addition to leaving the scene of the accident.
The theft from the construction site is contained in the involuntary manslaughter charge, Phillips said.

"When
there is a death, when it involves a child, it’s obviously very, very
emotional," Phillips said. "We considered long and hard in terms of how
to charge this."
The charges are disappointing but not unexpected, and will be fought, said Hernandez’ attorney, Scott
Culbert.
"We’d
like for Mr. Hernandez to be able to be with his family, to mourn and
try to start getting over the loss of his son," he said.
Culbert denied Hernandez was stealing from a construction site.
Hernandez,
30, initially was charged with leaving the scene without speaking to
authorities after his son was struck when he fell out of the van in the
Dec. 26 accident northwest of Columbus. The boy, Angel Hernandez, was
not wearing a seatbelt, officials said.
Video from a sheriff’s
deputy dash cam shows authorities arriving at the scene, taking the
child from Hernandez, then leaving the father by the side of the road
with the van and his girlfriend’s children.
Culbert says the video
makes clear that Hernandez didn’t leave the accident scene. Phillips
has said police expected Hernandez to follow them to the hospital.
Instead, he showed up two hours later after a search for him had been
launched.
Hernandez, from El Salvador, is in the United States
illegally, authorities said. He is being held on $500,000 bond with an
additional hold from the federal government.
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