‘His death, cannot go silent’: Family speaks after 13-year-old boy killed on way to school

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (KDVR)  — The family of a 13-year-old Highlands Ranch boy is speaking out for the first time since someone killed him on his way to school.

“I do apologize if I will start crying, I still cannot control my feelings, but I will be strong (for) him because his words, his death, cannot go silent. It cannot be another traffic death,” Victoria Cegielski, Alexander Mackiewicz’s mother, said.

Investigators said Alex died after he was hit by a car while riding a single-wheel electric skateboard near Venneford Ranch Road and Highlands Ranch Parkway. According to police, he was traveling in the crosswalk and the walk signal was activated when he was hit.

“Why my boy has to pay the horrible price for somebody’s mistake,” Cegielski said.

The driver faces the following misdemeanor charges:

• Careless driving caused death
• Careless driving caused serious bodily injury to a vulnerable road user
• Failed to obey traffic control signal

“Careless driving resulting in death carries a maximum of a $1,000 fine and one year in county jail, a maximum,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said.

But Alex’s mother said she worries that’s not enough.

“It has to be more severe so people will stop breaking the law, so they will stop running a red light because they might think about the consequences,” Cegielski said. “What if it’s my child over there? That’s what they need to think.”

Alex’s family wants to make a permanent memorial where he was killed as a reminder to kids walking to school and those driving past. They hope his story can help prevent another traffic death and spare loved ones from the loss and pain they now face.

“Friday was our favorite day, but now it is an empty day,” Robert Mackiewicz, Alex’s father, said. “That day I always picked up Alex from school.”

“He was a very tough boy in public. He was a teenager. He was ‘Mom, don’t kiss me when you drop me off, I’m a big boy now,’” Cegielski said. “He would come home, ‘Mom I’m home let’s hug.’ He loved when I kissed his nose.”

Weekly said he plans to work with this family to try and change laws around traffic codes during the next legislative session. He also said the traffic cameras that were not recording when Alex was hit will start recording on April 1.

“We’re not going to let this be another headline for a day or two and then move on until the next child dies. We’re going to do what we can to make change now,” Weekly said.