Boy, 23 Months, Dies After Van Hits Him

A 23-month-old boy died after a family friend backed up his van and accidentally ran over the child, authorities said Tuesday.

Carlos Flores was struck about 8:15 p.m. Monday by a van driven by John Mendoza Cabral Sr. as Cabral was backing out of the Flores family home, an Oxnard Police Department spokesman said.

Carlos had been in the garage watching Cabral and his father lift weights, said Craig Stevens of the Ventura County coroner’s office.

“When they finished, apparently the boy thought he was going to get a ride in the van,” Stevens said.

Cabral did not see the boy and backed the van over him, officials said.

Cabral and the boy’s father picked him up and rushed him to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, were he was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.