In the summer of 2024, a twelve-year-old boy named Keaton Slater was struck and killed by a car while walking home from school in Coventry — and the driver vanished across a continent. Two years of cross-border investigation, involving British, Latvian, and international authorities, have now brought a suspect back to face justice. The extradition of Dolars Aleksanders to the United Kingdom is a reminder that the machinery of accountability, however slow, can reach far — and that a community's grief does not expire at a border.
Latvian man extradited and charged in schoolboy hit-and-run death
12-year-old Keaton Slater was killed when struck by a black BMW while walking home from school on 14 June 2024.
The person accused will finally answer in court
Mark
Why did it take two years to bring him back?
Mimi
He left the country almost immediately after the crash. Extradition isn't quick—it requires cooperation between two legal systems, paperwork, court orders in both countries. Latvia had to agree to send him, the UK had to prove its case was solid enough to warrant it.
Mark
Did he hide, or was he just living his life in Latvia?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't say. He was detained last month, which suggests he was found or turned in, but we don't know if he was evading actively or simply didn't return.
Mark
What happens now in court?
Mimi
He'll be arraigned Thursday. The charge is causing death by dangerous driving—that's serious. It could go to crown court for trial. The CPS will lay out what they have.
Mark
Do we know anything about the BMW or how the crash happened?
Mimi
Only that it was a black BMW and that Keaton was hit while walking home from school. The source doesn't detail the mechanics of the collision itself.
Mark
What's the significance of international agencies being involved?
Mimi
It shows this wasn't just a local police matter. Interpol, mutual legal assistance treaties—the machinery of international law had to turn. That's why it took two years.
Mark
For Keaton's family, does extradition feel like justice?
Mimi
It's a beginning. It means the person accused will finally face a court. But it's also a reminder that justice, when someone dies, is always incomplete.
Der Puls
- A twelve-year-old boy was killed in broad daylight on his walk home from school, and the driver fled the country before police could act.
- For over two years, Keaton Slater's family lived with both loss and the particular wound of abandonment — no arrest, no answer, no one held responsible.
- British, Latvian, and international agencies spent those two years coordinating across legal systems and borders to locate the suspect and build a case for extradition.
- Dolars Aleksanders was detained in Latvia last month, flown to Gatwick, and taken into West Midlands custody — the long-delayed machinery finally closing.
- On Thursday, he will stand before Birmingham Magistrates Court on a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, marking the first time the accused faces a British courtroom.
In the summer of 2024, a twelve-year-old boy named Keaton Slater was struck and killed by a car while walking home from school in Coventry — and the driver vanished across a continent. Two years of cross-border investigation, involving British, Latvian, and international authorities, have now brought a suspect back to face justice. The extradition of Dolars Aleksanders to the United Kingdom is a reminder that the machinery of accountability, however slow, can reach far — and that a community's grief does not expire at a border.
On a June afternoon in 2024, twelve-year-old Keaton Slater was walking home from school in Coventry when a black BMW struck him. He died from his injuries. The driver did not stop — and soon left the country entirely.
For more than two years, the case remained open. West Midlands Police had identified Dolars Aleksanders, a 23-year-old Latvian national, as a person of interest shortly after the June 14 collision. But locating him and securing his return required something far more complex than a domestic arrest: a coordinated effort between British authorities, Latvian law enforcement, and international agencies working across legal systems and borders.
Last month, Aleksanders was detained in Latvia. This week, he was extradited to the United Kingdom, arriving at Gatwick Airport on Wednesday before being taken into custody in the West Midlands. The Crown Prosecution Service described the outcome as a collaborative achievement — a long process finally reaching its next threshold.
For Keaton's family and the Coventry community, the extradition carries the weight of two years of waiting. The case had the particular sting of a hit-and-run: not only a child's death, but the flight of the person responsible. On Thursday, Aleksanders is scheduled to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court to face the charge of causing death by dangerous driving — the first time, in more than two years, that someone will answer for Keaton Slater's death in a British courtroom.
On a June afternoon in 2024, a twelve-year-old boy named Keaton Slater was walking home from school in Coventry when a black BMW struck him. He died from his injuries. The driver did not stop. For more than two years, the case remained open—a missing suspect, a grieving family, and a police investigation that crossed borders.
This week, that investigation reached a turning point. Dolars Aleksanders, a 23-year-old Latvian man, was extradited from Latvia to the United Kingdom to face charges of causing death by dangerous driving. He arrived at Gatwick Airport on Wednesday and was taken into custody in the West Midlands. On Thursday, he is scheduled to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court.
Aleksanders had been named as a person of interest by West Midlands Police shortly after the collision on June 14, 2024. Rather than remain in the UK to answer questions, he left the country. What followed was a lengthy extradition process involving British authorities, Latvian law enforcement, and international agencies working in coordination to locate him, secure his arrest abroad, and arrange his return to face trial.
The two-year gap between the incident and the extradition reflects the complexity of cross-border criminal proceedings. Aleksanders was detained in Latvia last month, setting in motion the final steps of the legal machinery. Ben Samples, a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service, described the effort as a collaborative achievement, noting that British and Latvian authorities, along with international partners, had worked closely together to bring the suspect back to face proceedings in a UK court.
For Keaton's family and the community in Coventry, the extradition represents a long-delayed step toward accountability. The boy was twelve years old when he was killed—old enough to walk home from school alone, young enough that his death remains a rupture in the ordinary rhythms of a neighborhood. The case had the particular sting of a hit-and-run: not only the loss, but the abandonment of responsibility, the flight across a continent.
Now the legal process moves into its next phase. Aleksanders will stand before a magistrate on Thursday. The charge is specific and grave: causing death by dangerous driving. What follows—whether the case proceeds to crown court, what evidence will be presented, what defense will be mounted—remains to be determined. But for the first time in more than two years, the person accused of killing Keaton Slater will answer for it in a British courtroom.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
British and Latvian authorities, as well as international agencies, worked closely together to bring Mr Aleksanders back to face proceedings in a UK court— Ben Samples, Crown Prosecution Service spokesman
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