ORLANDO, Fla. – A 4-year-old boy with special needs wandered from an Orange County hotel early Friday and was struck and killed by a van, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Troopers identified the boy on Friday as Kiyan Tomlin, of Brooklyn, New York.
The fatal crash was reported at 2:05 a.m. on John Young Parkway at Sand Lake Road in Orlando.
The FHP said Kiyan , who was wearing a T-shirt and shoes but no pants, wandered from the Extended Stay America hotel and was walking across John Young Parkway when he was struck by a Ford van driven by a 56-year-old Orlando man, who did not see the child.
The driver pulled over and tried to help, but Kiyan died at the scene, troopers said.
"I don't think there's anything (the driver) could have done to avoid this," FHP spokeswoman Kim Montes said. "It was dark out here, and you don't expect there to be a child in the middle of the road as you're driving along."
The FHP traced the Kiyan's footprints back to the hotel and found his parents asleep in their room, unaware that the boy had left.
The boy's parents said they went to bed around 11 p.m. and locked the door, using a security latch. Troopers said Kiyan apparently used a chair to unlatch a lock and open the door.
"When we went into the hotel room, the chair was up against the door and troopers had to push the door open because the chair was up against the door," said Montes, who added that the parents claimed they did not put the chair there.
Montes said informing the parents of their son's death was heartbreaking.
"Our lieutenant having to tell that family that their child was struck is one to the worst news we have to deliver to somebody," Montes said. "We'll just continue to investigate to see what transpired and how that child got into the road."
No charges will be filed against the driver, troopers said.
The fatal crash comes days after a 2-year-old boy was run over and killed in his driveway.
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