A 17-year-old Los Angeles teenager who was behind a shocking hit-and-run accident that injured a mother and her baby while they were in a stroller was shot dead.
Kristopher Baca was killed on Wednesday night in Palmdale, California, when he died alone in the street from gunshot wounds.
Baca was sentenced to just seven months in juvenile probation camp after the crash on August 6, 2021, at the age of just 15.
Disgusting footage of the accident went viral and showed Baca smashing his black car into the victim – identified only as Rachel – as she stood by the side of the road in a stroller with her eight-month-old son Charlie.
She was thrown over the roof of the vehicle as it crashed into the baby.
Incredibly, the little boy was not seriously injured, while his mother only sustained lacerations on her elbow.
A 17-year-old Los Angeles man involved in the August 2021 hit-and-run accident that injured a mother and her baby in a stroller has been shot dead
In the moments before Baca’s death, a car pulled up next to him, after which an argument broke out and Baca was shot. The car then sped away.
Before that, he had been at a fast food restaurant trying to “get together with a girl.”
Surveillance footage captured the horrific hit-and-run accident that occurred on August 6, 2021 in Venice, California.
Back then, Rachel criticized Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon during a hearing on the teen’s early release in June 2022.
Kristopher Baca was 15 when he was convicted of mowing down a mother and her eight-month-old baby in a horrific hit-and-run accident. He was released early after being sentenced to just seven months in a juvenile probation camp
Upon learning of Baca’s death, she said she was relieved and saddened by the news.
“The universe has given us justice that was not given to us in court, but a much harsher punishment than it was given in court,” she said in a statement.
“I think I feel short-circuited – by the system because they didn’t hold him accountable and made him sad, not for him but for his mother a little bit because if George Gascon was actually doing his job, that kid always would.” still live in prison. ‘ Rachel told Fox News.
The case drew national attention when Gascon’s office sought a sentence of five to seven months in a juvenile probation camp, a sentence less severe than military school but harsher than summer camp.
The teenager was already on probation at the time of the hit-and-run for poisoning a high school girl’s drink and was found to be intoxicated while driving a stolen vehicle.
The victim’s family eventually moved out of Los Angeles due to what they describe as the city’s crime-friendly policy.
Rachel jumps up and rushes to the stroller to check on eight-month-old Charlie
Harrowing footage of the incident showed Rachel pushing Charlie in a stroller through the Venice neighborhood as the car sped toward her.
She tried to swerve in the narrow alley, but the car drove towards her.
As horrified onlookers rushed to help, the driver, Baca, sped away and only stopped when a pickup truck blocked his path.
During his sentencing in June 2022, it was ruled that the teenager – known only as KB – would serve his sentence in a “juvenile probation camp” rather than juvenile detention.
Rachel, in her victim impact statement, opened up about the devastating effects of the teenager’s actions – who at the time had drugs in his system but was not drunk.
“I thought these were the last moments of our lives; we were dead,” she wrote.
“That feeling, along with the memory of a car accelerating right into us, will haunt me forever.”
She detailed the terrifying moment when he swooped down on her and her baby.
“As the car approached me and my child, I pulled over and parked the stroller and myself against a building on the right-hand side of the road to make sure we gave the reckless driver enough space to overtake,” Rachel said.
“As the car got dangerously close to us, KB turned the wheels in our direction and accelerated as he aimed to kill us.”
“I was also told that when he turned 18 his file would be deleted,” she said at the time.
“How on earth can that be? He attempted to murder two innocent pedestrians. Murder. And we have video evidence. My child would be dead if I hadn’t been there to protect him.”
The incident made headlines in June 2022 after Gascon’s office – which has long been known for shining a light on criminals in the name of progressive reform – sought a softball verdict while prosecuting the 16-year-old, who was intoxicated when he the stolen vehicle was driving
Gascon’s office told Fox News the youth camp ruling was “a reasonable solution.”
“The Sheriff’s Department approved the felony charges filed.
“At the indictment, the minor admitted to two counts of assault with a high likelihood of grievous bodily harm and one count of hit and run.
‘The parole board recommended, and the court sentenced the minor to a youth camp for five to seven months, an appropriate resolution.’
They said the juvenile justice system was designed to “rehabilitate young people.”
“In this case, that teenager will be held accountable for his actions and will be provided with the services needed to promote positive development and deter him from committing future crimes,” the office added.
The car Baca was driving was only stopped when a pickup truck driver ran into him
But Rachel remained angry.
“I have never been more surprised or disappointed, and in fact I have never felt more victimized than by the system and the current policies of LA Attorney George Gascon,” Rachel wrote.
“It breaks my heart to think of all the other victims out there who are less fortunate than me, whose killers get light sentences and get out of prison before the end of their sentence.”
She added: “George Gascon doesn’t value my life or the life of my child or any other victim out there and would rather reward the monsters like KB by showing them their actions have no consequences.
“DA Gascon tells him and every other gangster in LA County that it doesn’t matter if you try to murder people.
“Why does Gascon policy prioritize the livelihood of rotting monsters when my child, my baby, unable to protect himself is left to his own devices and essentially told his life doesn’t matter?”
Gascon, 68, was elected in November 2020 but has proved deeply unpopular for his progressive policies, which critics say are criminal.
In August 2022, a recall motion fell just short of the 567,000 required to bring the motion to a vote, while still collecting about 520,000 names.