GREELEY - All the bone-jarring speed bumps in the neighborhood didn't help.

Neither did the blue-and-white sign at East 22nd Street and Aspen Avenue reminding motorists to drive safely.

A hit-and-run driver killed 8-year-old Jasmine Hernandez in front of her home. Her cousin, Yvette Rodriguez, 9, was injured and is in fair condition at Children's Hospital in Denver.

A 15-year-old Greeley youth, allegedly driving without a license, is in custody at Platte Valley Youth Detention Center.

His name is not being released because of his age, authorities said. Jennifer Finch, spokeswoman for the Weld County District Attorney's Office, said Tuesday that prosecutors will determine if charges will be filed once police complete their investigation.

The tragedy occurred around 3:50 p.m. Monday, when two people in a low-slung, red Dodge pickup truck with fat tires drove into the neighborhood.

Witnesses said they heard tires squealing and saw the truck stop near two teenage girls in the 500 block of East 24th Avenue.

Hernandez and Rodriguez, on a bicycle and a scooter, were attempting to cross the street to their home when the truck backed up and struck them, according to witnesses.

The truck stopped for a few moments, then moved forward, running over the arm of one of the girls, the witnesses said. The vehicle then wheeled around and sped off, dragging the bicycle to the corner.

Elvin Moss heard the commotion and saw the truck rounding the corner in front of his house.

Moss, 79, grabbed the bicycle after it fell off, then looked back up the street to see the two girls crumpled on the pavement.

"I recognized the bike and I seen all that mess down the street and I went there and it was too god-darned late," he said.

The 8-year-old looked as if her injuries were fatal, he said.

A neighbor wrote down the license plate number on the truck and reported it to police, allowing them to track the driver to a residence about six blocks away.

Hernandez was transported to North Colorado Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m., Greeley police spokesman Sgt. Joe Tymkowych said.

Her father, Sergio Hernandez, had been working on a construction project in Las Vegas when the accident occurred and immediately flew home.

"I didn't have a chance to see my daughter again," the 37-year-old said, adding that the girl had dreamed of becoming a nurse. Hernandez also grieved for his 12-year-old son, also named Sergio.

"My poor son saw everything," Hernandez said. "He saw when the car went in reverse and ran over her."

One of the suspect's neighbors, Marcie Zarate, 26, said the youth has been driving around the neighborhood for at least a year, even taking his mother to and from the grocery store.

"They aren't doing too good about the situation," Zarate said of his parents.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, with burial following at Linn Grove Cemetery. Anyone wishing to make donations to the Hernandez family, or to Yvette Rodriguez's family to help defray medical expenses, can call Allnut Funeral Home at 1-970-352-3366.

lehndorffb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2792.