Frankie Brooks

Crime Description:

On the morning of May 24, 2008, five year old Frank Brooks, nicknamed 'Frankie Blue Eyes', died in his mother’s arms in the front yard of their rural Tate County, Mississippi home. Frankie was struck by a speeding drunk driver, illegal immigrant Jaime Perez.  While retrieving his sister’s shoe from beside the road, the little boy was run over as his brother and sister watched.  

Perez fled from the scene of the accident without hesitating and veered off of the road in his attempt to escape. (1) 

Frank’s mom, Frankie, held her little boy as he died. “He had blood coming out his ears. Eyes still open. He didn’t have time to blink or hurt…and…it was over, like, that fast,” she recounted in an interview. (2) 

Family members described Frankie as “an angel”, “loving” and “full of energy”. (1)  Ironically, Frankie’s mother moved her family from Memphis, Tennessee, to rural Mississippi to get them away from the “crime of the big city”. 

When asked how she is coping, Frankie Brooks replied, "Truthfully, I basically have no will to live anymore; I am just going through the motions dealing with work and trying to be strong for my family. I only see an unhappy life for the rest of my life." (3) 

Perez was charged with DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a license. He had a Tennessee identification card, Mexican ID’s and “questionable” Social Security cards. (1)

Documentation:

1. Boy Killed in Hit & Run; Driver Held Without Bond
 http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=360af298-620d-4413-be27-0b0c1525a58e

2. Boy Killed by Hit and Run Driver
    http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=XhovjSi0NLk

3. Tears for Frankie Blue Eyes
     http://www.arizonafreepress.com/columnists/Graham/CJG2008/cjg_081008.htm