Coroner IDs toddler accidentally run over

By Mary Manning

Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 | 4:02 p.m.

The toddler who died after a driver accidentally backed over him Sunday night in an east valley residential neighborhood has been identified as 21-month-old Ismael Guerrero Jr., of Las Vegas, the Clark County Coroner's Office said today.

The boy's death was ruled an accident from injuries suffered when the 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe backed over him, a spokeswoman in the coroner's office said.

Metro Police arrived at 9:07 p.m. Sunday to the incident on East Pelham Court west of North Sacramento Drive, a neighborhood located south of Stewart Avenue and west of Lamb Boulevard. The street is about a mile northeast of the U.S. 95/East Charleston Boulevard interchange.

The 21-month-old boy followed the driver out of a house as the man was going to move the Tahoe onto Pelham Court, police said. The boy had walked down the driveway and into the Tahoe's path as the driver, 22-year-old Manuel Bermudez, was backing onto the roadway, police said.

The boy was run over by one of the vehicle's rear tires and was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical crews.

The Metro Police Accident Investigation Section is investigating. This is the 76th traffic fatality this year in Metro Police jurisdiction.