Cynthia Ferguson has been surviving a mother’s nightmare for the past 7 months.
It began successful the precocious hours of Dec. 5, 2025, erstwhile the Metropolitan Police Department said her son, Ruben Ibarra, was struck and killed by a operator successful a cardinal Las Vegas Valley crosswalk.
Ibarra, 25, was rushed to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center wherever helium aboriginal died. The driver, wrong a light-colored SUV, sped disconnected into the night.
Seven months later, constabulary said nary arrests person been made successful transportation with Ibarra’s death.
Ibarra’s decease and his family’s lengthy hold for closure are not uncommon. Fatal hit-and-runs similar the 1 that killed Ibarra spiked successful Las Vegas aft 2020 and person trended upward ever since, Metro information shows.
What remains of Ferguson’s firstborn lad rests successful a memorial necklace adorned with greenish gems and a aureate urn stored successful a Henderson trailer wherever she and her mother, Carla Ferguson, live. The 2 person been near aggravated and sorrowful without closure to Ibarra’s death.
“I ne'er thought I would ever person to suffer a kid earlier I died. It’s hard,” a tearful Cynthia Ferguson said. “I raised this kid to beryllium an adult, and for idiosyncratic conscionable to travel and instrumentality him? I person truthful galore memories with him, and past he’s just, poof, gone.”
‘How could you conscionable wounded somebody?’
Cynthia and Carla Ferguson retrieve Ibarra arsenic a benignant and adjuvant handyman with a emotion of soccer.
He was his precocious schoolhouse shot team’s skipper successful California whose talents were lone held backmost by his asthma, Cynthia Ferguson, 43, said.
Ibarra wanted to participate the operation industry, a tendency rooted successful a artifact toolkit helium received arsenic a child, according to Carla Ferguson, 63.
Cynthia Ferguson said Ibarra was stateless successful the half-year preceding his decease arsenic a effect of him not listening to his begetter and grandmother’s location rules. But adjacent erstwhile helium didn’t person much, Ferguson said Ibarra was much than consenting to assistance others.
“He’ll assistance anybody (and) springiness the garment disconnected of his backmost if helium could,” she said.
Carla Ferguson said she was the archetypal to person the quality of Ibarra’s death. She said dialing her girl astir it was “the worst happening I had to do.” Cynthia Ferguson said she felt the aforesaid mode astir telling her 3 different children, 2 of whom are adults, astir the collision.
“We each marque mistakes. We’re each humans. But, I mean, however could you conscionable wounded idiosyncratic and past not attraction and conscionable spell connected with your beingness similar thing (happened)?” she asked. “How could you unrecorded with yourself for doing that?”
A deadly trend
There were 33 hit-and-run fatalities successful Metro’s jurisdiction past year, the astir successful immoderate twelvemonth since astatine slightest 2018, which is the earliest twelvemonth of postulation information disposable connected Metro’s website. Of those cases, 10 remained unfastened by the extremity of 2025.
On average, astir one-third of Metro’s fatal hit-and-run cases since 2018 had not been closed by the extremity of the twelvemonth successful which the collision occurred. Between 2020 and 2024, lone 25 percent of those unfastened cases were closed by the extremity of the twelvemonth aft the clang took place.
Cases tin adjacent successful respective ways, including erstwhile arrests are made oregon constabulary deficiency capable accusation to bring charges against a suspect.
The reasons wherefore fatal hit-and-runs spell unsolved are unclear. A Metro spokesperson declined a petition for an interrogation connected the taxable with a detective connected the department’s collision probe section.
On a telephone telephone astir 3 months ago, Carla Ferguson said a Metro serviceman told her of Ibarra’s case, “It’s been excessively long, and they’re not going to beryllium capable to find them (the driver).” She added that her girl calls and emails Metro weekly, outreach that is met with silence.
Cynthia Ferguson is huffy astir the deficiency of apprehension successful her son’s death. She said surveillance cameras adjacent Flamingo and Mojave Roads, wherever Ibarra was struck, should person offered ample clues astir the SUV and its driver.
“I request to cognize what happened to my son,” Cynthia Ferguson said. “Whoever did it needs to wage for it. It’s not OK.”
Metro’s quality merchandise astir the collision that killed Ibarra urged anyone with accusation astir the incidental to telephone them astatine 702-828-3786 or, to stay anonymous, telephone Crime Stoppers astatine 702-385-5555, sojourn www.crimestoppersofnv.com oregon usage the mobile app “P3.”
Cynthia and Carla Ferguson pleaded for assemblage members to bash the same.
“We request immoderate closure to beryllium capable to spell connected for the remainder of our days,” Cynthia Ferguson said. “Nobody has nary thought what it feels similar to suffer a kid and person to unrecorded each azygous time without your kid successful your life. I wouldn’t privation that connected my worst enemy.”
Contact Spencer Levering astatine slevering@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0253.
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