SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A family friend has identified the 2-year-old struck and killed by car on Saturday in Scottsdale as John Warren Mahlke.
She says the family was waiting for a table outside a restaurant off Hayden and Royal Palm Road, when the 28-year-old female driver went over the sidewalk and into the grass, hitting him unexpectedly.
The friend is raising money so the family can transport John Warren back home to San Pedro, California.
In a GoFundMe page post, she wrote that the family was in Arizona to attend spring training because "John Warren showed joy and love for baseball. They had planned this to be the beginning of a long family tradition."
Police say speed and impairment were not factors in the crash, but they're still investigating why the driver veered off the road.
If you would like to help the family, please visit their GoFundMe page.
