Girl, 1, Killed in Hit-and-Run Crash in City Heights, Man Arrested on DUI

A one-year-old girl died after she was struck by a suspected drunk driver who took off after the crash in a neighborhood of City Heights in San Diego, authorities said Sunday.

The child was struck at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday when she wandered into the street in the 3900 block of Redwood Street in the Castle community, police said.

The toddler was hit by a 1999 Toyota 4Runner driven by a 45-year-old man later identified as Margarito Angeles-Vargas, the San Diego Police Department reported.

The child suffered head injuries and was rushed to the hospital but did not survive, police said.

A witness to the crash provided license plate information and Angeles-Vargas was later located in the Mid-City area with the vehicle, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and hit-and-run, and driving with a suspended license. He will also face a murder charge.

NBC 7 spoke with neighbor Jocelyn Jalate about the incident that occurred in her neighborhood.

"It's super sad knowing that we see kids out here all the time playing, you really never know it would happen and it’s really unfortunate that this happened to this family," Jalate said.

Jalate would like to see more action taken to reduce the amount of deadly accidents.

"They really need to change something about it — either put more stop signs or speed bumps here. People also need to drive like they’re driving in their own neighborhood or as if their own kids were playing out here," Jalate added.

Neighbors have a message for everyone.

"Everybody be careful and be aware of your surroundings because you really never know and value life because life is very precious," said Jalate.

Vargas is set to be arraigned on his multiple felony and misdemeanor charges in the upcoming days.

San Diego police urged anyone with information about the accident to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.