Riverside Driver Arrested for Murder in 2023 Fatal Collision Involving 8-Year-Old Victim
On Thursday, August 15, 2024, Riverside Police arrested 23-year-old Andres Laris of Riverside following a comprehensive investigation into a fatal traffic collision that occurred in 2023. Laris was determined to be at fault for the collision, which took place on May 16, 2023, at approximately 7:30 a.m., at the intersection of Arlington Avenue and Stover Avenue. The incident involved a white Honda driven by Laris and a gray Nissan occupied by a 25-year-old woman and her younger siblings.
According to the Riverside Police Department, Laris was traveling at over 100 miles per hour when his vehicle veered into oncoming traffic, resulting in a head-on collision with the Nissan. The crash resulted in the death of the woman’s 8-year-old brother and left her and her two other siblings, aged 16 and 10, with serious and critical injuries, respectively.
Investigators from the Major Accident Investigation Team (M.A.I.T.), in collaboration with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office, determined that Laris had cannabis in his system at the time of the crash. Further investigation revealed that Laris had completed an online traffic school course in 2022 after receiving a prior speeding citation. The course emphasized the dangers of speeding, particularly the increased severity of collisions at higher speeds.
Given Laris’s driving history, which included two prior speeding citations, and the reckless actions that led to the fatal collision, detectives recommended criminal charges. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office subsequently approved one felony count of murder for the death of the 8-year-old victim, along with three felony counts of driving across a divided highway causing great bodily injury to the surviving siblings.
Laris was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center and is currently held on $1 million bail. The Riverside Police Department continues to investigate the incident and has urged anyone with additional information to contact Traffic Detective G. Anderson at GAnders@RiversideCA.gov.
