Man admits killing schoolboy in hit-and-run crash

A man has admitted causing death by dangerous driving after killing 12-year-old Keaton Slater in a hit-and-run crash.

Latvian national Dolars Aleksanders was extradited to the UK last month, following the death of Keaton, who was fatally injured on his way home from school in Coventry, in 2024.

Aleksanders, 23, appeared at Warwick Crown Court via a virtual link from HMP Dovegate and spoke only to enter his guilty plea.

Keaton's parents said they endured the heartbreak of losing their son, while also fighting for accountability. They accepted Aleksanders' extradition and plea did mean "justice" for Keaton, but no sentence would "ever take away the pain of losing him".

The defendant is due to be sentenced on 13 November.

Judge Matthew Walsh told him: "Plainly the sentence that you are going to have imposed upon you is to be a very long one.

"That will be determined by Her Honour Judge [Kristina] Montgomery KC."

It comes after Aleksanders struck the Coventry schoolboy with his black BMW 330 on Radford Road on 14 June 2024.

At the time of the incident, West Midlands Police said there were four people in the car, which was driving "well above" the speed limit when it hit Keaton.

A reward of £10,000 was also offered up by Crimestoppers for information that led to Aleksanders' arrest.

It was later discovered that the defendant had fled to Latvia where efforts to extradite him started soon after he was named by police as a person of interest.

After evading West Midlands Police for more than two years, he was flown into Gatwick Airport last month and was then transported to a custody block in the West Midlands.

Crown Prosecution Service spokesman Ben Samples said British and Latvian authorities, as well as international agencies, had worked closely together to "bring Mr Aleksanders back to face proceedings in a UK court".

Keaton's parents, Louise and Clint Slater, were sitting in the public gallery of the court as Aleksanders entered his plea.

In a statement, the family said: "For two years, we have struggled to come to terms with Keaton's death while also having to live with the devastating feeling that justice has not been done.

"We have had to endure the heartbreak of losing our son while waiting, hoping and fighting for accountability."

They added that there had been times when the pain had "felt unbearable" and days when it had been "difficult to see a way forward".

"But today, after two long and heartbreaking years, we can finally say that justice has been done for Keaton," they said.

"Nothing will ever bring our beautiful boy back. No sentence, no outcome and no words can ever take away the pain of losing him.

"But finally having justice means that Keaton's life and the circumstances surrounding his death have been acknowledged.

"We will never stop loving Keaton. We will never stop missing him. And we will never stop speaking his name.

"Keaton was more than the way he died. He was our son, our beautiful boy, and a huge part of our lives. He will always be remembered, always be loved, and always be in our hearts."

Det Ch Insp Sam Lewis, who led the investigation, said: "This has always been about getting justice for Keaton and his family.

"Keaton should have had his life ahead of him, but the selfish and reckless actions of Aleksanders took this away from him.

"Aleksanders was speeding at an excessive level and would have known the impact of the collision.

"He could have sought to help Keaton but instead fled, leaving him to die and his family to deal with an unimaginable amount of grief and pain.

"Everyone that has heard Keaton's story has been determined to do everything possible to catch the person responsible.

"This has been a complex investigation but we've always remained resolute and bonded by the belief that we would ensure Aleksanders was convicted for his appalling actions."

There has been a huge community response in the months and years since Keaton's death.

He had been a big fan of Coventry City and in July 2024, a month after his death, his family led out players from Leamington FC and the Sky Blues academy.

The pre-season friendly saw the teams and their fans observe a minute's silence for the 12-year-old.

At the time, Leamington FC described the match as a "fitting way for the football family to come together to remember Keaton", and his parents were presented with a collection of about £300 at the end of the game.

In 2025, Coventry City Council announced a reduced speed limit of 20mph would be imposed on Radford Road where Keaton had been hit.

Taiwo Owatemi, MP for Coventry North West, described his death as "heartbreaking" but said she was proud the city council had responded to a petition made in his name.

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