His mother stepped up to the microphones Tuesday night and, with her son fighting for his life, pleaded for the suspect to turn himself in.
"He's in critical condition because of the brain trauma, and hopefully he'll come out of it," Khadijah Suluki said. "Whoever ran my child over, please come forward."
She may not have gotten her wish for a surrender, but police say the driver is in custody Tuesday night. That driver is allegedly just 16 years old.
Akeem Suluki was the victim of a hit and run just a few doors down from his Bedford-Stuyvesant home.
The car plowed into the fourth grader just minutes after he'd gotten out of school. Witnesses say as he made his way into the crosswalk at Macon and Malcolm X Boulevard, a white Dodge Charger ran a red light and hit him. The child was reportedly tossed 15 to 20 feet.
The car barely missed a crossing guard who tried to help.
"She tried to pull him back," the victim's sister, Shaniqua Harris-Bell, said. "She wasn't fast enough and the car hit him.''
Family members and supporters held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night at the scene.
Back at the hospital, Akeem Suluki's mother has questions that only the suspect can answer.
"Why?" she asked. "Why did you run a child over, just hit a child in front of a school like that?"
The child was reportedly unconscious when police arrived. He was taken to Kings County Hospital.
