A license plate reader camera helped investigators identify the 43-year-old man they believe drove a vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian and injured another person in late November, according to court records.
A Lubbock County grand jury on Tuesday returned an indictment against Julian Mercado on a second-degree felony count of failure to stop and render aid involving a death in the Nov. 19 death of 18-year-old Zakeria Bol.
Bol was a basketball standout who graduated in May from Randall High School.
Benjamin Brown, also 18, was also struck and injured by the same vehicle that night. Mercado faces a charge of failure to stop and render aid involving an injury.
Mercado’s charges stem from a Lubbock Police Department Major Crash Unit investigation that began after patrol officers responded about 7:25 p.m. Nov. 19 to reports of a collision involving two pedestrians in the 4000 block of Idalou Road, according to a police news release.
Responding offices found Bol dead at the scene. Brown was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center for treatment, the release states.
An initial investigation indicated that Bol and Brown were walking northeast in the 4000 block of the Idalou Road access road when they were struck by a vehicle traveling in the same direction. The vehicle then left the scene, the release states.
Meanwhile, investigators collected debris from the scene that they believed were broken parts of of a GMC Yukon Denali or a Cadillac Escalade.
Investigators also searched images from a nearby license place reader camera and found a vehicle with front-end damage and a broken passenger-side sideview mirror, that passed the device about five minutes after the crash, according to court documents.
Investigators believe Brown was struck by the sideview mirror.
The license plate on the vehicle was linked to Mercado, who was later found on Nov. 22 at a relative’s home.
Jail records show Mercado was arrested at a home in the 4200 block of 16th Street.
Investigators also found at the residence the vehicle, which had front-end damage consistent with being involved in a crash.
Mercado reportedly admitted to driving the vehicle involved in the crash, the documents state.
He was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center where he remains.
His bond is set at $100,000.
Phillip Partin, Lubbock TAG administrator, told commissioners during an Aug. 28, 2023, meeting that the cameras will be used to help the law-enforcement partnerships solve serious crimes in Lubbock County, aacording to previous reporting.
“They should be helpful in helping us locate stolen vehicles, wanted persons, narcotics investigations, homicides, robberies, aggravated assaults, but also Amber Alerts and Silver Alerts,” Partin said at the time, noting the cameras would capture almost every car entering or exiting the city of Lubbock.
