A nine-year-old boy is dead and a five-year-old child is hospitalized after a driver struck them Sunday afternoon in the 6700 block of Eagle Pointe Drive North near West 46th Street and Interstate 465, then fled the scene without stopping. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded around 1:30 p.m. to a report of a child lying in the street and found both children in the roadway upon arrival.
The boy died from his injuries, while the five-year-old is in stable condition, according to WIBC 93.1 FM. Both children were taken to area hospitals after officers located them, per WTHR, which detailed the dispatch circumstances and the specific block where the crash occurred. Police gathered descriptions of the suspect and vehicle, used the license plate to locate the vehicle, and arrested its 31-year-old driver that afternoon.
Felony Exposure Once Driver Is Identified
Felony Exposure Once Driver Is Identified The driver faces steep criminal exposure under Indiana law. Leaving the scene of a crash that results in death is a Level 4 felony under Indiana Code § 9-26-1-1.1, carrying a potential sentence of two to 12 years in prison and fines up to $10,000. The same statute classifies leaving the scene after a crash causing bodily injury as a Class A misdemeanor; a Level 6 felony applies when the crash causes moderate or serious bodily injury. The preliminary charge reported for the surviving five-year-old was leaving the scene causing catastrophic injury, a Level 4 felony.
Indiana law also requires any driver involved in a crash to remain at the scene and render reasonable assistance. Separately, under Indiana Code § 9-30-7-3, officers are required to offer or conduct a chemical breath or blood test on any driver involved in a crash resulting in serious injury or death within three hours of the incident.
A Corridor Already Flagged for Danger
This is not the first close call for children along the West 46th Street corridor. On August 4, a six-year-old boy was struck and hospitalized while crossing at West 46th Street and the Monon Trail — just one day after the city had installed a traffic-calming project at that very crossing, the station reported. Residents nearby have repeatedly raised concerns about vehicle speeds on the major east-west arterial.
Citywide, an analysis by the Indianapolis Vision Zero Task Force found that 5% of Indianapolis streets — 205 miles — account for 43% of fatal and incapacitating-injury crashes, according to city of Indianapolis data. The city separately maintains nearly 8,400 lane miles. The mapping is meant to help officials target where infrastructure fixes are needed most.
Part of a Troubling Pattern for Young Pedestrians
Sunday's crash follows a string of recent incidents involving children struck by vehicles across the metro. Less than a month earlier, on September 8, a young girl died after being struck by a vehicle in a residential driveway in the 5300 block of West Southport Road on the city's southwest side, a case Hoodline previously covered in detail. On September 26, a hit-and-run occurred on West 16th Street on the Near West Side, and the driver was arrested.
Citywide, pedestrian deaths remain a persistent concern. Traffic safety data released in May showed Indianapolis recorded 85 total traffic fatalities in 2025, with non-motorists accounting for more than 30% of those deaths, including 24 pedestrians and nine bicyclists, per the same WTHR account that detailed the city's broader safety trends. The toll comes even as the city works to reverse a pandemic-era spike in road deaths.
City's Vision Zero Push Continues
The Eagle Pointe Drive crash unfolds as Indianapolis presses forward with its Vision Zero effort. The Indianapolis City-County Council passed a Vision Zero ordinance in August 2024 committing the city to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries across Marion County by 2035, which led to the formal adoption of a 102-page action plan in December 2025, according to the City of Indianapolis. That plan centers on infrastructure redesigns and quick-build traffic calming projects, though the string of incidents along the West 46th Street corridor shows how much ground remains to be covered.
Investigators identified the driver through neighbor interviews, video footage, license-plate readers, and police coordination, and police arrested him. The circumstances leading up to the collision remain under investigation.
