BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Plantation Police Department detectives were still investigating a single-vehicle crash Thursday night when a grieving grandmother identified the 3-year-old victim as James Rocco Oizan Chapón.
Maria Cid said her 25-year-old daughter Yasmin Cid was having a disagreement with her boyfriend Ryan Yates when he grabbed James and drove away with him in her black 2014 Mercedes-Benz.
According to Cid, Yasmin Cid tried to open the door to get James out of the car. It was the last time she saw James alive. Yates crashed the car on North University Drive near Northwest Fifth Street.
“I heard two booming sounds right after the crash and then a woman screaming for her baby,” said Elizabeth Velasco, who lives nearby. “She was like, ‘My baby! My baby!’ I actually started crying when I heard that because I felt really helpless.”
Jesse Del Valle was working in the area and recorded a video of the aftermath. The car was fully engulfed in flames. Plantation Fire Department personnel responded to extinguish the blaze.
Cid said the family was grieving both James and Yates.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help pay for James’ funeral and memorial service.
Thursday morning report