Parents of Coventry hit-and-run victim feel ’empty’ on day he would have turned 13
A Coventry family has talked of their sadness on the day their ‘fun-loving’ son would have turned 13. Keaton Slater was murdered in a hit-and-run last year with the person responsible still to be brought to justice.
Young Keaton had been walking from Cardinal Newman Catholic School when he was killed by a BMW on Radford Road on June 14, 2024. He got horrific injuries in the hit-and-run and unfortunately died.
Today (January 17) would have marked the avid Coventry City fan turning 13. Parents Louise and Clint Slater claimed that on what should have been a wonderful day witnessing their son become a teenager, they instead felt ’empty.’
Louise added Keaton would normally wake up bursting with joy on his birthday, but the day has been ‘extremely quiet.’ She told Coventry Live: “It is horrible with no cards, no presents to wrap, or anything like that, it just feels empty.”
Clint and Lousie stated since his birthday would have fell on a Friday this year, they would have taken him out with his pals, but not being able to celebrate as they normally would has been ‘terrible.’ Clint said: “It is whatever he would have picked.
“We were going to do a party for him this year, but obviously we have not been able to do anything like that. It has been a dreadful day so far, and it is not going any easier.”
Christmas was just as devastating for the Slater family this year, with Clint saying: “It was not the same at all because we have our little traditions, like playing on the Nintendo. Obviously, this year, we could not do any of it, so it was just incredibly quiet.”
Louise added: “Keaton was the youngest, so everything revolved around him, and Kai and Keanu would rather play on the Xboxes, so it was nice that he still wanted to be part of the family being that age, so it was a lot different this year.”
Louse and Clint will be firing off 13 fireworks this evening (January 17) in remembrance of Keaton. Balloons have also been sadly laid where the young Sky Blues fan was brutally slain.
Police designated Dolars Aleksanders as the key suspect in the hit-and-run investigation last year and are continuing attempts to have him extradited from Latvia. Evidence has also been filed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
In a statement made, West Midlands Police said: “We remain focused on getting justice for Keaton and his family. Investigations into the crash and whereabouts of primary suspect Dolars Aleksanders are still very much active.
Our inquiries have been ongoing and we have sent a dossier of material to the Crown Prosecution Service.”
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