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19-year-old accused of running over girl in Draper reportedly said to child after crash that ‘we all have to die sometime’

A 19-year-old who struck an 11-year-old on an electric scooter on Friday in Draper allegedly “charged” toward the injured girl after the crash and told her “we all have to die sometime.”

Officers said Steven Ray Becky was acting “uncooperative, aggressive, and non sympathetic” toward the child at the scene and near 15050 S. Winged Bluff Lane, and said in court documents that his statement after the crash and home surveillance footage indicates Becky intentionally hit the girl.

The 11-year-old girl was hit by a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta just before 8:30 a.m. near 15050 S. Winged Bluff Lane. Police say Becky was heading north on the wrong side of the road and turned into the girl, who was pushing the scooter south, Draper City Police Chief John Eining said in a news conference Friday evening, which was broadcast live by FOX 13.

(Courtesy of Utah County jail) Steven R. Becky

Home surveillance footage shows Becky making a “hard turn” into the girl, Eining said. The car’s front bumper hit the girl, and then the vehicle overturned, according to court documents.

"This is not what I would describe as veered into the gal or drifted into the gal. My description would be turned into the gal,” Eining said.

After the crash, a witness told police he saw Becky charge at the child, and heard him say, “We all die sometime," according to court documents.

Becky reportedly tried to leave the area, but the witness held him down. Becky allegedly told the witness he’d taken Xanax and used marijuana. While being treated at the hospital after the crash, Becky told the doctor he’d taken LSD and eaten psychedelic mushrooms.

Becky told investigators that he hit the girl “because she was white.”

Eining said that Becky apparently knew the 11-year-old because he was staying with a family member whose child is friends with the victim.

The 11-year-old was taken to the hospital in serious condition. Becky was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted criminal homicide and DUI with serious bodily injury.

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Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune and FOX 13 are content-sharing partners.